V  OCA  T ION  A L 

SERIES 

EDITED  BY 

E. 

HERSHEY  SNEATH,  Ph.D.,  LL.D., 

,  Yale  University 

THE  YOUNG  MAN 
AND  TEACHING 


THE  MACMILLAN  COMPANY 

NEW  YORK  •   BOSTON  •   CHICAGO  •  DALLAS 
ATLANTA  •   SAN  FRANCISCO 

MACMILLAN  &  CO.,  Limited 

LONDON  •  BOMBAY  •  CALCUTTA 
MELBOURNE 

THE  MACMILLAN  CO.  OF  CANADA,  Ltd. 

TORONTO 


THE  YOUNG  MAN 
AND  TEACHING 


BY 

HENRY  PARKS  WRIGHT,  Ph.D.,  LL.D. 

u 
Professor  Emeritus,  Yale  University,  and 

Formerly  Dean  of  the  College 


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H3eto  gotk 

THE  MACMILLAN  COMPANY 
1930 

AH  rights  reserved 


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Copyright,  1920 
By  THE  MACMILLAN  COMPANY 


Set  up  and  electrotyped.     Published,  January,  1920 


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TO 
PROFESSOR  HENRY  BURT  WRIGHT,  Ph.D. 

FRIEND  AND  COLLEAGUE, 

THIS  SERIES.  THE  FRUIT  OF  HIS  SUGGESTION, 

IS  DEDICATED  BY  THE  EDITOR 


412525 


EDITOR'S  PROSPECTUS 

One  of  the  most  important  decisions  a  young  man  is 
called  upon  to  make  relates  to  the  determination  of  his 
life-work.  It  is  fraught  with  serious  consequence  for 
him.  It  involves  the  possibilities  of  success  and  fail- 
ure. The  social  order  is  such  that  he  can  best  realize 
his  ends  by  the  pursuit  of  a  vocation.  It  unifies  his 
purposes  and  endeavors  —  making  them  count  for  most 
in  the  struggle  for  existence  and  for  material  welfare. 
It  furnishes  steady  employment  at  a  definite  task  as 
against  changeable  effort  and  an  unstable  task.  This 
makes  for  superior  skill  and  greater  efficiency  which 
result  in  a  larger  gain  to  himself  and  in  a  more  genuine 
contribution  to  the  economic  world. 

But  a  man's  vocation  relates  to. a  much  wider  sphere 
than  the  economic.  It  is  intimately  associated  with 
the  totality  of  his  interests.  It  is  in  a  very  real  sense 
the  center  of  most  of  his  relations  in  life.  His  intel- 
lectual interests  are  seriously  dependent  upon  his  vo- 
cational career.  Not  only  does  the  attainment  of  skill 
and  efficiency  call  for  the  acquisition  of  knowledge  and 
development  of  judgment,  but  the  leisure  that  is  so 
essential  to  the  pursuit  of  those  intellectual  ends  which 
are  a  necessary  part  of  his  general  culture  is,  in  turn, 
dependent,  to  a  considerable  extent,  upon  the  skill  and 
efficiency  that  he  acquires  in  his  vocation. 

vii 


viii  EDITOR'S    PROSPECTUS 

Nor  are  his  social  interests  less  dependent  upon  his 
life-work.  Men  pursuing  the  same  calling  constitute 
in  a  peculiar  sense  a  great  fraternity  or  brotherhood 
bound  together  by  common  interests  and  aims.  These 
condition  much  of  his  social  development.  His  wider 
social  relationships  also  are  dependent,  in  a  large 
measure,  on  the  success  that  he  attains  in  his  chosen 
field  of  labor. 

Even  his  moral  and  spiritual  interests  are  vitally 
centered  in  his  vocation.  The  development  of  will,  the 
steadying  of  purpose,  the  unfolding  of  ideals,  the 
cultivation  of  vocational  virtues,  such  as  industry, 
fidelity,  order,  honesty,  prudence,  thrift,  patience,  per- 
sistence, courage,  self-reliance,  etc. —  all  of  this  makes 
tremendously  for  his  moral  and  spiritual  development. 
The  vocationless  man,  no  matter  to  what  class  he  be- 
longs, suffers  a  great  moral  and  spiritual  disadvantage. 
His  life  lacks  idealization  and  is  therefore  wanting  in 
unity  and  high  moralization.  His  changeable  task, 
with  its  changeable  efforts,  does  not  afford  so  good  an 
opportunity  for  the  development  of  the  economic  and 
social  virtues  as  that  afforded  the  man  who  pursues  a 
definite  life-work.  It  lacks  also  that  discipline  —  not 
only  mental,  but  moral  —  which  the  attainment  of  vo- 
cational skill  and  efficiency  involves. 

But  notwithstanding  the  important  issues  involved 
in  a  man's  vocational  career,  little  has  been  done  in 
a  practical  or  systematic  way  to  help  our  college  young 
men  to  a  wise  decision  in  the  determination  of  their 
life-work.     Commendable  efforts   are  being  put  forth 


editor's  prospectus  ix 

in  our  public  schools  in  this  direction,  but  very  little, 
indeed,  has  been  done  in  this  respect  in  the  sphere  of 
higher  education.  To  any  one  familiar  with  the  strug- 
gles of  the  average  college  student  in  his  efforts  to 
settle  this  weighty  question  for  himself,  the  perplex- 
ities, embarrassment,  and  apparent  helplessness  are  pa- 
thetic. This  is  due  largely  to  his  ignorance  of  the 
nature  of  the  professions  and  other  vocations  which 
appeal  most  strongly  to  the  college  man.  Conse- 
quently, he  does  not  know  how  to  estimate  his  fitness  for 
them.  He  cannot  advise  to  any  extent  with  his  father, 
because  he  represents  only  one  vocation.  Neither  can 
he  advise  advantageously  with  his  instructor  for  he, 
too,  is  familiar  with  the  nature  of  only  one  profession. 

For  this  reason,  a  series  of  books,  dealing  with  the 
leading  vocations,  and  prepared  by  men  of  large  ability 
and  experience,  capable  of  giving  wise  counsel,  is  a 
desideratum.  Such  men  are  competent  to  explain  the 
nature  and  divisions  of  the  particular  vocations  which 
they  represent,  the  personal  and  educational  qualifica- 
tions necessary  for  a  successful  pursuit  of  the  same, 
the  advantages  and  disadvantages,  the  difficulties  and 
temptations,  the  opportunities  and  ideals;  thus,  in  an 
adequate  way,  enabling  the  student  to  estimate  his  own 
fitness  for  them.  They  are  also  able  to  make  valuable 
suggestions  relating  to  the  man's  work  after  he  enters 
upon  his  vocation. 

Fortunately,  in  the  present  Series,  the  Editor  has 
been  able  to  secure  the  services  of  some  of  the  most 
eminent  experts  in  the  country  to  prepare  the  respec- 


x  editor's  prospectus 

tive  volumes  —  men  of  large  knowledge  and  experi- 
ence, who  have  attained  wide  recognition  and  genuine 
success  in  their  "  callings."  It  is  a  pleasure  to  be 
able  to  place  at  the  command  of  hundreds  of  thousands 
of  students  in  our  American  colleges  the  wise  counsel 
of  such  experienced  and  distinguished  men. 

The  "  Vocational  Series  "  will  consist  of  twelve  books 
written  by  representatives  of  different  vocations,  as  fol- 
lows: 

1.  The  Young  Man  and  the  Law 

Hon.  Simeon  E.  Baldwin,  LL.D.,  Professor  of  Law, 
Emeritus,  Yale  University,  ex-Governor  and  ex-Chief 
Justice  of  Connecticut 

2.  The  Young  Man  and  the  Ministry 

Rev.  Charles  R.  Brown,  D.D.,  LL.D.,  Dean  of  the 
School  of  Religion,  Yale  University 

3.  The  Young  Man  and  Teaching 

Professor  Henry  Parks  Wright,  Ph.D.,  LL.D.,  Pro- 
fessor Emeritus  and  formerly  Dean  of  Yale  College 

4.  The  Young  Man  and  Medicine 

Lewellys  F.  Barker,  M.D.,  LL.D.,  Professor  of  Med- 
icine and  Chief  Physician,  Johns-Hopkins  University 

5.  The  Young  Man  and  Journalism 

Chester  Sanders  Lord,  M.A.,  LL.D.,  formerly  Man- 
aging Editor  New  York  Sun 

6.  The  Young  Man  and  Banking 

Hon.  Frank  A.  Vanderlip,  M.A.,  LL.D.,  President  of 
the  City  National  Bank,  New  York 

7.  The  Young  Man  and  Business 

8.  The  Young  Man  and  Mechanical  Engineering 

Lester  P.  Breckenridge,  M.A.,  Eng.D.,  Professor  of 
Mechanical  Engineering,  Sheffield  Scientific  School, 
Yale  University 


editor's   PROSPECTUS  xi 

9.  The  Young  Man  and  Electrical  Engineering 

Charles  F.  Scott,  Sc.D.,  Eng.D.,  Professor  of  Elec- 
trical Engineering,  Sheffield  Scientific  School,  Yale 
University 

10.  The  Young  Man  and  Civil  Engineering 

George  F.  Swain,  LL.D.,  Professor  of  Civil  Engi- 
neering, Harvard  University 

11.  The  Young  Man  and  Farming 

L.  H.  Bailey,  M.S.,  LL.D.,  formerly  Director  of  Col- 
lege of  Agriculture,  Cornell  University,  and  Editor 
of  Cyclopedia  of  American  Horticulture,  Rural  Sci- 
ence Series,  Garden-Craft  Series,  Rural  Text-Book 
Series,  Cyclopedia  of  Agriculture,  etc. 

12.  The  Young  Man  and  Government  Service 

Hon.  William  Howard  Taft,  D.C.L.,  LL.D.,  ex- 
President  of  the  United  States,  and  Professor  of 
Law,  Yale  University 

The  Author  of  this  volume  —  The  Young  Man  and 
Teaching  —  the  late  Professor  Henry  Parks  Wright, 
Ph.D.,  LL.D.,  of  Yale  University,  had  large  experience 
as  an  instructor,  covering  more  than  forty  years,  and 
as  Dean  of  Yale  College  from  1884  to  1909,  was  emi- 
nently qualified  to  give  wise  counsel  to  young  men  con- 
templating the  work  of  teaching.  In  this  book  the 
Author  has  rightly  devoted  much  space  to  teaching  in 
high  and  preparatory  schools.  The  majority  of  col- 
lege men  who  enter  upon  the  profession  of  teaching 
begin  their  work  in  the  field  of  secondary  education. 
The  Author  has,  therefore,  given  special  attention  to 
teaching  in  secondary  schools.  For  those  who  are 
to  enter  immediately  upon  the  work  of  college  teach- 
ing,  Chapter   VIII   will   be   found   especially  helpful. 


xii  EDITOR'S    PROSPECTUS 

Professor  Wright  has  also  given  large  space  to  the 
important  matter  of  discipline.  Many  men,  well  in- 
formed in  the  subjects  they  are  to  teach,  and  well 
equipped  in  methods,  fail  as  teachers  because  of  their 
inefficiency  in  matters  of  discipline.  The  Author's  un- 
usually successful  career  as  Dean  of  Yale  College  ren- 
ders his  counsel  on  this  important  subject  of  excep- 
tional value. 

E.  Hershey  Sneath. 


PREFATORY  NOTE 

When  a  young  man  has  in  mind  the  choice  of  any 
particular  profession,  he  wishes  to  know  (1)  what  the 
profession  has  to  offer  him;  (£)  whether  he  possesses 
such  personal  qualifications  as  will  enable  him  to  have 
a  good  degree  of  success  in  it;  and  (3)  how  best  to 
prepare  himself  for  the  work.  If  he  selects  the  pro- 
fession, he  wishes  to  get  as  early  as  possible  what 
guidance  he  can  from  the  experience  of  other  men  who 
have  gone  over  the  same  road  before  him.  To  be 
helpful  to  one  who  wishes  to  decide  whether  it  will  be 
wise  for  him  to  adopt  teaching  as  his  profession,  or  to 
one  who  has  already  adopted  it  and  is  just  entering 
upon  his  new  work,  is  the  aim  of  this  book. 

The  material  here  presented  has  been  drawn  mainly 
from  personal  experience  and  observation.  I  look 
back  upon  my  undergraduate  college  days  with  an  in- 
creasing appreciation  of  the  faculty  by  which  my  class 
was  taught.  Twenty  men  gave  the  instruction  during 
four  years  to  a  class  numbering  in  all  one  hundred  and 
seventy-seven  students,  and  these  were  men  who  left 
the  impress  of  their  high  character  upon  their  pupils. 
My  experience  as  a  teacher  extended  over  more  than 
half  a  century,  beginning  with  a  few  years  in  the  com-  ^ 
mon   schools  of  Massachusetts,   continuing  for  three 

xiii 


xiv  PREFATORY    NOTE 

terms  in  one  of  the  largest  private  schools  of  the  West, 
and  ending  with  forty  years  in  the  College  Department 
of  an  eastern  university.  I  have  had  as  teachers  and 
as  colleagues  many  who  have  ranked  among  the  best 
in  their  profession,  and  chiefly  from  these  I  have  drawn 
my  ideal  of  what  a  teacher  ought  to  be.  I  would  not 
have  any  one  suppose  that  I  assume  to  have  lived  up 
to  the  standard  which  I  have  here  set.  I  have  profited 
by  my  mistakes  and  by  the  discovery  of  my  own  de- 
ficiencies. 

In  Chapter  XI  will  be  found  brief  sketches  of  a  few 
of  the  masters  who  have  shown  unusual  talent  for  train- 
ing boys  and  whose  positions  have  given  them  great 
influence  in  establishing  and  maintaining  a  high  stand- 
ard of  teaching  in  American  secondary  schools.  I 
have  thought  that  some  acquaintance  with  the  life  and 
character,  aims  and  methods  of  these  teachers  would 
be  interesting  and  helpful  to  a  young  man  who  adopts 
teaching  as  his  profession.  Much  of  the  information 
given  in  this  chapter  is  taken  from  books  and  pamphlets 
that  are  preserved  in  only  a  few  libraries,  and  hence 
are  not  generally  accessible  to  teachers  in  the  prepara- 
tory schools.  Ezekiel  Cheever  rightly  stands  at  the 
head  of  this  list  because  of  his  position  as  the  first  great 
American  schoolmaster  and  also  on  account  of  his 
very  long  period  of  service. 

New  Haven,  November  30,  1916. 


TABLE  OF  CONTENTS 

CHAPTER  PAGE 

Editor's   Prospectus vii 

Prefatory   Note xiii 

I     Teaching  as  a  Profession 1 

II     Objections  to  the  Vocation  Considered     .  19 

III     Personal  Qualifications 32 

IV     Educational  Preparation 48 

V     Instruction 62 

VI     Government 87 

VII     Rules  and  Penalties 106 

VIII     Teaching  in  College   .      .      .      .      .      .      .  121 

IX     Suggestions 140 

X     For  Better  Schools 157 

XI     Great  Teachers 173 

Index 209 


THE  YOUNG  MAN  AND 
TEACHING 

CHAPTER  I 

TEACHING    AS    A    PROFESSION 

Important  considerations  in  the  choice  of  a  profession.  Obli- 
gations to  society  and  to  the  state.  Teaching  offers  opportunities 
for  the  highest  kind  of  service.  Keeps  one  young  and  enthusi- 
astic. The  teacher  has  much  time  for  private  study  and  for 
recreation  and  can  lead  an  independent  and  systematic  life.  The 
large  demands  of  the  vocation  make  it  inviting.  Great  variety  of 
subjects  in  which  one  may  prepare  himself  to  teach.  A  chance 
offered  to  secure  an  immediate  income  after  graduation.  Teach- 
ing in  college  and  in  secondary  school.  Opportunities  for  admin- 
istrative work.  Opportunities  for  college  men  in  public  schools. 
Urgent  call  for  good  teachers  to  train  the  young  to  become  loyal 
American  citizens.    Teaching  a  satisfactory  vocation. 

In  making  choice  of  a  vocation,  there  are  two  con- 
siderations that  seem  to  me  most  important, —  first, 
one's  natural  qualifications,  and,  second,  the  opportuni- 
ties which  the  vocation  offers  for  a  useful  and  satisfac- 
tory life.  We  may  not  have  ambition  to  be  widely 
known  or  to  get  high  position.  But  the  desire  to  suc- 
ceed in  what  we  undertake  is  common  to  us  all.  It  is 
evident  that  we  shall  make  the  most  of  our  lives  if  we 
toil  in  a  field  which  nature  has  plainly  marked  out  for 
us  and  if  we  are  urged  on  by  the  belief  that  the  work 
we  are  doing  is  a  real  service. 


2  THE    YOUNG    MAN    AND    TEACHING 

Our  obligations  to  the  state  and  to  society  forbid 
the  choice  of  a  calling  from  purely  selfish  motives.  We 
may  take  to  ourselves  credit  for  having  made  good  use 
as  students  of  the  opportunities  open  to  us ;  but  whence 
came  these  opportunities  ?  What  have  we  that  we  have 
not  received?  Everything  that  we  possess  that  makes 
life  worth  living  has  come  down  to  us,  directly  or  in- 
directly, from  others, —  a  few  of  them  our  immediate 
predecessors,  but  the  vast  majority  men  unknown  to 
us,  who  lived  before  our  time,  many  of  them  centuries 
before.  By  their  struggles  and  sacrifices  and  discov- 
eries, the  rights  and  privileges,  the  comforts  and  con- 
veniences that  we  enjoy  have  been  accumulating  age 
after  age,  and  have  been  preserved  to  be  an  inheritance 
of  the  people  of  this  generation.  The  world  will  con- 
tinue to  grow  better,  whether  you  and  I  help  or  not; 
but  we  can  do  a  little  to  help,  and  it  is  a  great  privilege 
for  us  to  have  a  part  in  this  forward  movement,  by 
which  something  more  than  we  have  received  is  to  be 
handed  down  to  those  who  come  after  us. 

The  institutions  of  education  whose  advantages  we 
have  shared,  from  the  public  school  to  the  university, 
have  been  established  and  supported  by  the  state  or 
the  city,  or  by  the  gifts  of  private  individuals.  This 
places  us  under  obligations  to  use  what  we  have  ac- 
quired in  school  and  college  for  the  public  good.  We 
owe  much  to  the  nation  of  which  we  are  a  part.  We 
live  under  its  protection  and  have  the  privileges  of 
citizenship  in  a  land  where  the  people  rule.  Every 
able-bodied  young  man  recognizes  his  obligation  to  serve 


TEACHING    AS    A    PROFESSION  3 

as  a  soldier  in  the  nation's  defense  in  time  of  war.  He 
is  no  less  under  obligation  to  be  a  loyal  and  helpful 
citizen  in  time  of  peace,  and  as  such  his  place  is  where 
he  is  fitted  to  accomplish  most  for  the  common  welfare. 

We  should  have  in  mind  not  so  much  what  we  can  get 
out  of  a  vocation,  as  what  we  can  put  into  it.  The  life 
of  a  teacher  presents  a  strong  appeal  to  a  young  man 
because  of  the  opportunities  which  it  offers  him  for 
the  best  kind  of  service.  What  more  useful  profession 
than  that  which  has  for  its  life-long  mission  the  train- 
ing of  those  who  are  to  be  the  citizens  of  this  republic 
in  the  next  generation,  who  are  to  hold  its  offices  and 
direct  its  business  interests,  and  who  are  to  be  its 
guardians  and  defenders?  A  man  ought  not  to  become 
a  teacher  if  he  is  not  naturally  fitted  to  teach;  but  if 
he  has  the  gift,  and  earnestly  desires  to  enter  into  a 
calling  where  his  influence  will  help  the  community,  he 
is  not  likely  to  make  a  mistake  in  choosing  teaching  as 
his  profession. 

The  business  of  the  teacher  is  to  instruct  thoroughly 
his  pupils  in  the  subjects  which  they  come  to  him  to 
learn.  But  his  great  opportunity  is  so  to  live  before 
them  that  he  will  impress  them  with  his  sincerity  and 
the  uprightness  of  his  life,  and,  by  the  silent  influence  of 
a  good  example,  help  them  to  lay  the  foundation  of 
trustworthy  character.  If,  then,  you  choose  teaching 
as  your  vocation,  you  may  be  able  to  communicate  to 
your  pupils  something  of  your  own  love  for  your  work, 
to  give  them  an  idea  of  the  true  purpose  of  living,  and  to 
lead  them  where  they  will  feel  the  joy  that  comes  from 


4  THE    YOUNG    MAN    AND    TEACHING 

the  discovery  that  they  can  be  useful.  It  is  not  too 
much  to  believe  that  you  will  have  it  in  your  power  to 
so  guide  the  thoughts  and  conduct  of  many  whom  you 
instruct  as  to  bring  to  them  a  happiness  and  a  success 
that  they  would  not  have  known  without  your  influ- 
ence. To  make  even  one  pupil  better  may  be  a  greater 
service  to  humanity  than  to  amass  a  fortune ;  and  you 
may  make  thousands  better. 

As  the  teacher  advancing  in  years  looks  back  upon 
his  work,  he  finds  peculiar  satisfaction  in  the  thought  of 
having  taught  in  their  youth  a  few  men  who  have  be- 
come renowned  for  their  achievements  in  scholarship 
or  literature,  or  who  have  risen  to  eminence  in  the 
professions  or  in  public  life.  There  is  satisfaction, 
too,  in  having  helped  in  the  training  of  great  numbers 
of  those  who,  scattered  over  the  land,  have  lived  quiet 
lives  of  usefulness  in  smaller  communities,  where  they 
have  been  respected  and  honored. 

The  teacher's  life  is  attractive,  not  only  because  it 
gives  you  the  opportunity  of  influencing  those  who  are 
at  an  age  when  impressions  are  most  lasting,  but  also 
for  its  invigorating  influence  on  yourself.  To  live 
daily  in  the  company  of  the  young,  who  are  full  of 
enthusiasm  and  hope,  who  know  nothing  as  yet  of  the 
serious  responsibilities  of  later  years,  who  are  active 
and  happy,  who  have  faith  in  you  and  an  affection  for 
you,  who  make  you  their  model  in  character  and  attain- 
ments,—  this  will  keep  you  also  young  and  fill  your 
days  with  fresh  enthusiasm.  Their  faith  in  you  will 
inspire  you  with  a  faith  in  humanity,  which  the  man 


TEACHING    AS    A    PROFESSION  5 

is  in  danger  of  losing  who  is  in  daily  contact  with  the 
hard,  unfeeling  world,  which  mistrusts  his  motives, 
questions  his  honesty,  and  is  ever  ready  to  take  ad- 
vantage of  his  mistakes  and  inefficiency.  When  your 
work  is  done,  there  will  be  those  who  remember  with 
true  affection  happy  schooldays  spent  under  your 
instruction,  and  there  will  be  some  to  cherish  the  mem- 
ory of  the  old  teacher  and  be  grateful  for  his  influence 
over  them  when  he  has  passed  to  the  world  beyond.  Is 
there  any  earthly  reward  greater  than  this? 

In  considering  teaching  as  a  profession,  it  is  proper 
to  remember  the  special  opportunities  offered  for 
private  study  and  writing,  as  well  as  for  the  conserva- 
tion of  health,  by  the  limited  requirements  of  the  class- 
room. The  number  of  hours  per  day  with  one's  classes 
is  small,  when  compared  with  the  number  given  to 
business,  and  the  teacher  has  time  for  daily  exercise 
and  recreation  which  a  man  in  business  cannot  afford. 
In  the  schools  the  classroom  work  is  limited  to  five 
days  in  the  week,  and  in  nearly  all  schools  and  colleges, 
as  the  year  is  at  present  divided,  not  less  than  one- 
fourth  of  it  is  allowed  for  vacations.  It  is  not  to  be 
inferred  from  this  that  the  teacher's  life  is  an  easy  one, 
for  a  considerable  part  of  these  vacation  periods  ought 
to  be  spent  in  planning  and  preparing  for  the  studies 
of  the  coming  term  or  year,  or  devoted  to  some  kind 
of  intellectual  work  which  will  make  one  a  more  efficient 
teacher;  but  they  give  opportunity  for  a  pleasant 
change  of  occupation  and  for  a  relief  from  the  wearing 
duties  of  the  classroom. 


6  THE    YOUNG    MAN    AND    TEACHING 

The  exercise  of  power  is  pleasing  to  many.  The 
teacher,  though  under  the  control  of  the  authorities 
that  appoint  him,  is  allowed  great  latitude  in  the  man- 
agement of  his  room,  or  of  his  school  if  he  be  the 
headmaster,  and  is  a  real  ruler,  for  the  most  part  with 
willing  and  obedient  subjects.  In  case  he  is  the  owner 
as  well  as  headmaster  of  a  private  school,  he  is  absolute 
ruler  of  it.  The  responsibility  of  management  is  a 
great  factor  in  self-development.  The  exercise  of 
power  not  only  begets  self-confidence  and  self-respect, 
but  the  man  who  exercises  it  wisely,  wins  the  confidence 
and  respect  of  other  men. 

The  systematic  life  of  the  teacher  is  conducive  to 
health  and  happiness.  Most  professional  men  do  not 
know  in  the  morning  what  demands  will  be  made  upon 
them  during  the  day,  nor  when  their  day  will  end.  But 
for  the  teacher  each  day's  duties  are  marked  out  in 
advance.  He  goes  to  his  various  tasks  at  times  ap- 
pointed, and  one  task  does  not  interfere  with  another. 
He  has  a  time  for  everything;  a  time  to  begin  and  a 
time  to  end.  Nothing  need  disturb  his  peace  to-day, 
and  he  need  not  dread  the  morrow. 

To  be  a  good  teacher,  one  must  devote  to  the  service 
his  mind,  his  heart,  his  strength.  The  large  demands 
of  the  vocation  make  it  inviting.  The  young  man  who 
wishes  to  live  a  life  that  will  count  is  not  looking  for 
an  easy  position,  but  for  one  where  he  can  accomplish 
something  that  only  a  few  can  do  well.  There  is  great 
satisfaction  in  working  in  a  field  in  which  there  is  so 
much     opportunity     for    new     ideas.     Since     Ezekiel 


TEACHING    AS    A    PROFESSION  7 

Cheever  began  his  remarkable  career  of  seventy  years 
as  the  first  great  New  England  schoolmaster,  there 
have  been  many  good  American  teachers  and  a  few 
that  are  rightly  called  great,  but  there  has  been  no 
teacher  of  long  experience  who  would  claim  that  he 
knew  all  that  ought  to  be  known  about  the  best  way  to 
train  children  and  youth.  There  have  been  those  who 
thought  they  knew  it  all  before  they  began,  but  they 
have  learned  better  by  practice.  This  generation  is 
showing  greater  interest  than  any  before  it  in  the 
study  of  all  kinds  of  educational  problems,  and  the  re- 
sult is  better  teachers  and  better  schools.  The  interest 
is  destined  to  continue,  with  increasing  advantage  to 
teachers  and  schools,  and  this  will  be  a  good  movement 
in  which  to  have  a  share.  The  day  is  past  when  schools 
and  colleges  treated  all  boys  as  if  they  had  the  same 
characteristics  and  ability,  and  must  all  be  taught  the 
same  things  in  the  same  way.  Time,  character,  health, 
life  itself  are  involved  in  the  process  of  education. 
What  we  want  to  know  is  how  boys  unlike  in  tempera- 
ment, in  character,  and  in  ability  may  be  trained  so 
that,  without  risk  of  health,  with  the  least  waste  of 
time,  and  with  the  least  danger  of  moral  failure,  they 
may  be  best  fitted  to  take  up  the  responsibilities  of 
mature  manhood. 

To  one  who  selects  teaching  as  his  vocation,  there 
are  open  a  great  number  of  special  lines.  He  may  pre- 
pare himself  to  teach  the  subject  which  he  likes  best, 
or  the  one  which  he  thinks  he  can  make  most  interesting, 
or  the  one  that  seems  to  be  most  in  demand,  and  may 


8  THE    YOUNG    MAN    AND    TEACHING 

feel  pretty  sure  of  being  able  to  limit  his  instruction 
to  his  specialty.  A  half  century  or  so  ago  a  teacher 
in  an  academy  or  a  tutor  in  college  might  be  required 
to  teach  any  subject  or  any  combination  of  subjects 
taken  in  the  academy  or  by  a  college  class.  The  same 
instructor  at  Andover  taught  my  division  in  Greek, 
Latin,  algebra,  and  geometry.  In  Freshman  year  in 
college  my  class  was  taught  algebra  by  a  tutor  who 
became  a  professor  of  Latin,  geometry  by  one  who  be- 
came a  professor  of  American  history,  and  Latin  by 
one  who  became  a  professor  of  chemistry.  While  the 
instruction  in  each  of  these  courses  was  good,  owing  to 
the  personality  of  the  man  who  gave  it,  the  instructors 
did  not  have  the  satisfaction  of  teaching  the  subjects  in 
which  they  were  especially  interested  and  which  they 
were,  at  that  time,  preparing  themselves  to  teach  in 
later  years.  Now,  in  all  the  best  schools,  each  teach- 
er's work  is  limited  to  one  subject  or  to  allied  subjects. 
In  a  well-equipped  school  of  forty  pupils,  the  faculty 
will  probably  include  one  instructor  in  the  classics,  one 
in  modern  languages,  one  in  science,  one  in  mathe- 
matics, one  in  English,  one  in  history.  If  the  school  is 
quite  large,  the  subjects  may  be  still  further  divided, 
one  teacher  taking  Greek  and  another  Latin,  one 
French  and  another  German,  one  physics  and  another 
chemistry,  while  other  teachers  are  appointed,  each 
of  them  giving  all  his  time  to  a  single  subject,  as,  for 
example,  music  or  physical  education.  This  limitation 
of  a  teacher's  energies  to  one  somewhat  narrow  field 


TEACHING    AS    A    PROFESSION  9 

has  resulted  in  the  development  of  very  expert  teach- 
ers in  the  modern  fitting  schools. 

Many  have  been  influenced  to  become  teachers  from 
the  desire  for  an  immediate  income.  Teaching  enables 
one  to  become  self-supporting  much  earlier  than  any 
ordinary  calling  open  to  a  college  graduate,  because 
his  studies  in  school  and  college  and  his  experience  as 
a  student  seem  to  him  to  furnish  the  preparation  which 
he  needs.  Therefore  one  already  mature,  or  one  who 
wishes  to  establish  a  home  with  little  delay,  has  a 
strong  motive  for  becoming  a  teacher.  I  would  not 
advise  a  young  man,  however,  to  be  influenced  by  either 
of  these  considerations,  unless  he  is  sure  that  he  has 
the  natural  qualifications  of  a  teacher.  To  make  the 
most  of  one's  self,  one  must  sacrifice  the  present  to  the 
future  and  be  willing  to  practice  for  a  time  much  self- 
denial,  that  he  may  better  fill  the  place  for  which  nature 
designed  him. 

If  one  is  in  debt  for  his  education,  a  position  in  a 
good  school  will  give  him  the  opportunity  to  cancel  the 
obligation.  A  debt  of  this  kind  ought  to  be  paid  at 
the  earliest  possible  date  after  graduation.  I  assume, 
of  course,  that  the  college  man  who  owes  his  degree 
to  one  who  has  befriended  him  in  time  of  need  is  a  man 
of  honor,  and  expects  to  pay  the  debt  sometime.  If 
allowed  to  run  on,  it  will  be  a  depressing  burden  when 
he  is  ready  to  establish  himself  in  his  profession,  and 
can  hardly  earn  enough  to  keep  soul  and  body  to- 
gether. 


\S 


10  THE    YOUNG    MAN    AND    TEACHING 

In  general,  it  is  not  wise  to  teach  for  a  few  years  on 
account  either  of  present  necessity  or  of  uncertainty 
as  to  final  choice,  with  the  design  of  taking  up  some 
other  profession  later.  The  years  that  can  be  given 
to  one's  life  work  are  few  at  best  (you  will  not  realize 
how  few  until  they  are  gone),  and  two  or  three  years 
spent  by  one  just  out  of  college  in  anything  but  a 
preparation  for  his  profession  may  make  a  decided 
difference  in  the  rank  which  he  will  ultimately  have  in 
that  profession.  Besides,  one  will  not  do  his  best  in 
an  occupation  which  is  only  a  temporary  makeshift; 
his  heart  will  not  be  in  it.  He  will  be  looking  forward 
impatiently  to  the  time  when  this  temporary  service 
will  give  place  to  something  which  is  to  be  permanent, 
and  very  likely  will  be  spending  his  best  energies  in 
preparation  for  that.  His  students  will  suffer  from 
his  poor  instruction,  and  he  will  suffer  from  the  habit 
of  doing  inferior  work. 

A  place  on  a  college  or  a  university  faculty  seems 
to  be  the  goal  of  most  graduates  who  plan  to  teach. 
For  a  person  of  unusual  ability,  who  is  eager  for  hard 
work,  who  has  a  passion  for  truth,  and  skill  in  stating 
things  clearly,  and  who  can  count  on  some  private 
income  or  who  will  be  satisfied  with  a  modest  income 
and  the  rather  narrow  circumstances  which  accompany 
it,  such  a  place  when  permanent  has  attractions.  It 
assures  one  opportunity  for  self-improvement  and  for 
productive  scholarship,  freedom  from  care  and  worry, 
the  daily  intercourse  with  young  life,   and  the  com- 


TEACHING    AS    A    PROFESSION  11 

panionship  of  colleagues  who  are  the  choicest  men  on 
earth. 

The  way  to  secure  such  a  position  is  to  earn  it.  It 
cannot  be  guaranteed  to  any  one  in  advance,  and  an 
appointment  as  instructor  by  no  means  gives  assurance 
of  promotion.  Qualifications  for  a  college  professor- 
ship are  high,  and  candidates  numerous.  Many,  after 
years  of  study,  fail  to  secure  an  appointment  or  to  gain 
the  advancement  to  which  they  think  they  are  entitled. 
It  is  not  in  general  wise  for  one  to  consume  much  time 
and  money  in  preparing  himself  for  a  college  position 
unless  urgently  advised  to  do  so  by  the  members  of 
the  college  faculty  who  know  him  thoroughly,  both  as 
a  student  and  as  a  man. 

The  preparatory  schools  present  a  field  where  there 
is  a  clear  call  for  strong  men  to  teach,  to  plan,  to  in- 
vestigate. The  schools  receive  their  students  at  an 
age  when  it  is  possible  to  influence  the  course  of  a  boy's 
entire  life.  The  relations  between  teacher  and  pupil 
in  the  school  are  more  intimate  than  in  college,  and 
the  earlier  teacher  will  be  more  esteemed  and  longer 
remembered.  Many  of  those  who  have  had  remarkable 
success  in  preparing  boys  for  college  would  have  ren- 
dered a  public  service  far  less  valuable  if  they  had  been 
college  professors.  The  kind  of  work  done  by  teach- 
ers in  the  fitting  school  ought  not  to  be  regarded  by 
any  one  as  inferior  to  that  done  in  college.  What  col- 
lege professors  of  their  day  have  left  a  more  enviable 
record  of  achievement  than  Ezekiel  Cheever  and  Francis 


V 


12  THE    YOUNG    MAN    AND    TEACHING 

Gardner  of  the  Boston  Latin  School,  Samuel  Moody  of 
Dummer  Academy,  Benjamin  Abbott  and  Gideon  L. 
Soule  of  Phillips-Exeter  Academy,  and  Samuel  H. 
Taylor  of  Andover?  Would  Cecil  F.  P.  Bancroft  and 
John  Meigs  have  been  as  well  known,  or  would  they 
have  had  as  wide  an  influence,  if  they  had  spent  their 
lives  in  teaching  college  students  instead  of  academy 
boys?  Is  not  a  mastership  in  a  good  school,  with  its 
opportunities  and  possibilities,  more  likely  to  open  a 
desirable  career  to  a  young  man  than  a  subordinate 
position  on  a  university  faculty  which  counts  its  mem- 
bers by  the  hundred? 

The  responsibilities  of  administration  are  open  to 
one  who  becomes  a  teacher  in  a  secondary  school,  if  he 
is  qualified  to  assume  them.  From  the  ranks  of  the 
teachers  are  selected  the  headmasters,  the  principals, 
and  the  superintendents.  Men  of  the  right  stamp  are 
constantly  sought  for  these  offices,  and  there  is  here 
the  assurance  of  promotion  to  higher  positions  for 
those  who  prove  themselves  worthy  and  competent. 
Good  organizing  and  administrative  ability  are  hard  to 
find,  and  the  efficient  principal  or  superintendent  will 
never  be  without  a  place. 

The  office  of  headmaster  or  principal  of  a  good  priv- 
ate or  high  school  is  exalted  enough  to  satisfy  the 
ambition  of  any  young  man.  The  natural  qualifica- 
tions are  much  the  same  as  those  for  the  highest  suc- 
cess in  other  callings.  The  opportunities  for  the 
noblest  kind  of  service  to  the  state  are  equal  to  those 
of  any  profession.     Dr.  Arnold  thought  the  three  great 


TEACHING    AS    A    PROFESSION  13 

objects  of  human  ambition  were  "  to  be  the  prime  min- 
ister of  a  great  kingdom,  the  governor  of  a  great  em- 
pire, or  the  writer  of  works  which  should  live  in  every 
age  and  in  every  country."  He  confessed  that  he  was 
one  of  the  most  ambitious  men  alive,  but  he  set  aside 
the  attractions  of  a  public  career  and  devoted  his  years 
to  quiet  work  with  his  pupils  at  Laleham  and  Rugby. 
Had  he  chosen  to  enter  public  life,  he  might  have  be- 
come preeminent  as  a  statesman ;  but  who  will  now  say 
that  it  was  not  better  that  he  chose  to  be  a  teacher? 
What  a  loss  to  England  and  to  America  if  there  had 
been  no  Dr.  Arnold  of  Rugby! 

More  college  men  ought  to  go  into  the  public  school 
service.  To  those  who  take  up  educational  work,  there 
are  few  positions  which  offer  better  opportunities  than 
that  of  principal  or  of  superintendent  in  the  public 
schools.  These  officers  are  responsible  not  only  for  the 
mental  and  moral  training  of  the  pupils  under  their 
charge,  but  also  in  large  degree  for  their  health  and 
physical  development,  for  their  cleanliness  both  in  mind 
and  body;  in  many  cases  they  nominate  the  teachers 
to  whom  the  state  must  look  for  the  proper  education 
of  its  citizens  of  the  coming  generations ;  and  they  have 
constant  opportunity  to  help  in  the  great  Americaniza- 
tion movement  in  which  the  nation  is  now  interested. 
A  principal,  because  of  his  many  points  of  contact, 
can  make  his  position  one  of  much  influence  in  the 
community.  He  can  work  effectively  for  the  general 
welfare  through  the  graduates  of  the  school.  He  can 
make  the  school  building  a  community  center,  and  can 


\s 


14  THE    YOUNG    MAN    AND    TEACHING 

reach  the  parents  and  others  beyond  school  age,  not 
only  through  the  cooperation  of  the  pupils,  but  by 
offering  the  advantages  of  school  extension,  through 
public  lectures  and  social  gatherings  for  improvement 
and  recreation.  It  requires  unusual  ability  to  manage 
a  large  public  school,  to  keep  such  control  over  it  that 
everything  moves  on  smoothly,  and  to  secure  obedience 
and  order  in  a  building  packed  with  active,  restless,  and 
sometimes  mischievous  children,  many  of  whom  dislike 
study  and  the  confinement  of  the  schoolroom  and  are 
there  not  from  their  own  choice  but  because  their  par- 
ents and  the  state  require  it. 

College  graduates  qualified  to  fill  the  best  public 
school  positions  have  no  difficulty  in  securing  desirable 
appointments.  My  opportunity  for  observation  has 
been  limited  mostly  to  one  college.  Those  who  became 
principals  or  superintendents  immediately  after  grad- 
uation had  been  teachers,  and  some  of  them  principals, 
before  coming  to  college.  Others,  without  teaching  ex- 
perience, on  leaving  college  began  as  teachers,  gen- 
erally in  secondary  schools,  and  were  advanced  when 
they  showed  that  they  were  qualified  for  positions  of 
greater  responsibility.  Their  devotion  to  the  work  is 
due  to  its  great  opportunities.  One  of  them  said  to 
me  recently,  when  another  occupation  with  a  larger 
salary  was  offered  to  him :  "  I  have  been  principal  and 
superintendent  now  for  eight  years,  and  I  know  the 
vast  importance  of  the  field.  I  am  determined  to  spend 
my  life  in  the  service  of  the  public  schools  and  could 


TEACHING    AS    A    PROFESSION  15 

not  be  tempted  to  leave  it  for  any  other  by  an  offer 
of  a  larger  salary." 

Some  of  the  ablest  and  most  earnest  young  men  and 
women  in  our  schools  and  colleges  are  eager  to  be  sent 
to  the  opposite  side  of  the  globe,  ready  to  forego  the 
delights  of  a  home  in  their  native  land  and  to  meet 
unknown  hardships  and  dangers,  in  order  that  they 
may  have  an  opportunity  to  assist  in  establishing 
Christian  education  and  civilization  in  the  great  na- 
tions of  the  East.  We  need  men  and  women  of  equal 
devotion  in  our  schools  at  home.  The  call  for  good 
teachers  here  is  urgent,  especially  for  persons  of  force 
and  initiative,  who  will  be  leaders.  A  great  work  ought 
to  be  done  among  the  youth  of  America  in  the  lifetime 
of  those  now  entering  upon  their  professional  careers. 
The  American  people  of  the  next  generations  will  be 
about  what  the  educational  institutions  of  the  country 
make  them.  The  schools  have  not  only  to  prepare 
their  pupils  intellectually  to  meet  the  responsibilities 
of  life,  but  they  must  make  up  for  deficient  home  train- 
ing in  manners  and  in  morals,  and  must  develop  in  the 
children  of  foreign  ancestry  an  appreciation  of,  and  a 
love  for  the  free  institutions  of  America.  The  prob- 
lem in  public  education  is  made  especially  difficult  by 
the  large  foreign  element  in  our  population.  These 
people  come  to  us  having  little  understanding  of  our 
language  and  unfamiliar  with  our  customs  and  institu- 
tions, and  sometimes  averse  to  adopting  them.  The 
children    whose   parents    or   grandparents   were   born 


\S 


16         THE    YOUNG    MAN    AND    TEACHING 

abroad  already  form  a  very  large  proportion  of  all 
those  in  the  process  of  education  in  American  schools. 
They  often  show  superior  ability.  They  will  soon  not 
only  very  greatly  outnumber,  but  perhaps  also  out- 
class, the  children  of  the  older  American  families,  and 
in  this  new  stock  lies  the  hope  of  the  nation.  These 
children  must  become  loyal  American  citizens.  None 
of  the  agencies  that  are  working  together  in  the  move- 
ment for  good  American  citizenship  have  a  more  wide 
and  lasting  influence  than  the  schools.  The  churches 
reach  only  a  portion  of  the  people,  but  the  schools  have 
a  chance  to  reach  all  and  to  influence  them  before  char- 
acter and  habits  have  become  fixed. 

Professor  Phelps  has  presented  the  call  of  the  pres- 
ent age  to  this  vocation: 

"  There  never  has  been  in  the  world's  history  a  period 
when  it  was  more  worth  while  to  be  a  teacher  than  in  the 
twentieth  century;  for  there  was  never  an  age  when  such 
vast  multitudes  were  eager  for  an  education,  or  when  the 
necessity  of  a  liberal  education  was  so  generally  recog- 
nized. ...  It  would  seem  as  though  the  whole  world  were 
trying  to  lift  itself  to  a  higher  plane  of  thought.  .  .  . 
It  is  a  great  thing  to  be  a  teacher  in  these  present  years  of 
grace !  "  x 

I  have  before  me  a  letter,  written  by  a  friend,  who 
had  in  his  youth  been  my  pupil.  His  son  had  recently 
graduated  from  college,  and  the  father  had  been  very 
anxious  that  the  son  should  make  choice  of  that  pro- 
fession which  would  have  opportunity  for  the  greatest 

i  Phelps,  Teaching  in  School  and  College,  New  York,  1919, 
p.  10. 


TEACHING    AS    A    PROFESSION  17 

usefulness.  How  this  father,  who  had  been  an  un- 
usually successful  business  man,  regarded  his  son's 
choice  of  teaching  as  a  profession,  is  shown  by  this 
extract  from  his  letter: 

"  I  have  been  spending  the  winter  in  Egypt  and  Sicily. 
My  son  came  with  his  mother  to  manage  things  and  look 
after  me,  and  while  at  Taormina  he  decided  to  spend  his 
life  in  teaching.  Whether  the  old  Greek  theater  and  all 
the  classic  associations  with  iEtna,  under  whose  summit 
we  lived  for  a  month  by  the  Ionian  Sea,  had  anything  to  do 
with  it,  I  do  not  know;  but  he  came  out  strong  and  clear 
in  his  decision,  and  is  very  happy  over  it.  His  mother  and 
I  are  delighted  in  his  choice  of  your  high  calling,  than 
which  I  believe  there  is  no  more  promising  field  for  use- 
fulness and  influence,  unless  it  be  the  ministry,  to  which 
I  at  first  hoped  he  would  devote  his  life.  But  teaching  is, 
after  all,  '  ministering '  of  a  very  high  order,  and  while  he 
has  never  been  a  great  student,  and  probably  may  never 
attain  a  college  professorship,  still  he  can  do  good  work 
in  secondary  schools,  preparing  boys  for  college  at  an  age 
when  they  are  most  impressionable  and  with  greater  op- 
portunities for  molding  character." 

After  a  long  and  varied  experience  in  teaching,  I  can 
commend  the  profession  as  one  affording  great  satis- 
faction. My  choice  of  a  vocation  was  made  before  I 
entered  college.  I  began  to  teach  at  the  age  of  seven- 
teen. A  gentleman  who  was  responsible  for  the  ap- 
pointment of  a  teacher  in  a  small  district  two  miles 
from  my  home  offered  me  the  position.  With  many 
doubts  and  fears  I  accepted  it,  and  with  great  reluc- 
tance entered  upon  the  duties  of  that  well-remembered 


18  THE    YOUNG    MAN    AND    TEACHING 

first  day.  It  proved  a  tedious  day  for  me,  and  when 
at  length  it  came  to  an  end  I  took  my  long  walk  home, 
sorry  enough  for  having  undertaken  a  task  so  uncon- 
genial. But  before  two  weeks  had  passed  I  began  to 
find  in  teaching  an  unexpected  pleasure.  It  was  fasci- 
nating to  help  the  young  people  in  their  studies  and  to 
watch  their  deepening  interest.  As  the  days  went  by, 
my  new  work  grew  more  and  more  absorbing,  and 
when  the  short  term  closed  it  was  hard  for  me  to  give 
it  up.  From  that  time  I  taught,  when  not  in  the  pre- 
paratory school  or  in  the  army,  till  I  entered  college. 
My  purpose  in  going  to  college  was  chiefly  to  prepare 
myself  to  be  a  better  teacher.  My  college  studies  were 
pursued  with  that  end  in  view,  and  at  graduation  there 
was  no  question  as  to  what  my  vocation  was  to  be.  I 
continued  to  teach  till  I  reached  my  seventieth  year, 
and  there  has  never  been  a  day  when  I  would  have  been 
willing  to  exchange  my  calling  for  any  other. 


CHAPTER  II 

OBJECTIONS    TO    THE    VOCATION    CONSIDERED 

Some  think  the  life  of  a  teacher  monotonous.  Some  think 
the  calling  is  at  a  social  disadvantage.  The  drudgery  of  reading 
papers,  and  of  supervision.  Pupils  are  often  dull  and  uninter- 
esting. In  private  schools  for  boys  provision  is  generally  made  for 
unmarried  masters  only.  Appointments  of  teachers  are  generally 
for  short  periods.    Salaries  are  inadequate.    The  teacher's  reward. 

In  the  preceding  pages  I  have  tried  to  present  the 
advantages  of  teaching  as  a  profession.  This,  like 
every  other  occupation,  has  also  some  disadvantages. 

Many  years  ago  a  well-educated  schoolmaster,  with 
a  satisfactory  income,  told  me  that  he  had  become  tired 
of  a  teacher's  life  because  of  its  monotony.  For  more 
than  two  decades  he  had  been  going  over  year  after 
year  the  same  ground  with  succeeding  classes.  It  is 
true  that  the  secondary  school  does  not  allow  that 
variety  of  subject  which  is  so  pleasing  to  a  college  in- 
structor. Certain  courses  are  marked  out  to  be  taken 
with  specific  ends  in  view,  and  they  may  not  change 
much  from  year  to  year.  But  this  need  not  lessen  your 
enjoyment  in  teaching  them.  By  repeated  study  of 
your  specialty  you  may  be  adding  so  much  to  your 
knowledge  of  it  that  it  will  always  have  for  you  the 
freshness   of  a   new  subject,   and  will  not  weary  you 

with  its  monotony,  though  you  often  repeat  it.     You 

19 


20  THE    YOUNG    MAN    AND    TEACHING 

will  still  find  in  it  something  new  and  interesting,  and 
every  year  you  will  be  better  able  to  teach  it.  New 
thoughts  will  often  come  to  you  while  conducting  a 
classroom  exercise,  which,  noted  down  before  you  have 
time  to  forget  them,  and  later  developed,  will  help  you 
in  presenting  the  truth  to  subsequent  classes.  For 
more  than  thirty  years  Dr.  Taylor  of  Andover  taught 
the  same  books  of  the  Iliad  and  of  the  iEneid  to  his 
Senior  classes,  and  he  came  before  his  students  each 
year  with  fresh  interest  and  enthusiasm.  He  read  the 
new  commentaries  by  English  and  German  scholars  on 
these  and  similar  portions  of  ancient  literature,  and 
carefully  prepared  each  lesson  anew  before  he  took  it 
up  with  his  pupils.  It  is  to  the  teacher  who  gives  but 
little  attention  to  his  subject  outside  the  classroom, 
that  a  course  becomes  irksome  when  repeated  year 
after  year. 

But  when  you  repeat  a  course  with  succeeding 
classes,  you  are  not  doing  over  and  over  the  same  work. 
You  teach  a  course  solely  for  the  benefit  of  the  students 
who  take  it.  The  course  which  you  teach  is  the  means 
which  you  employ  to  accomplish  the  end  which  you 
have  in  view.  A  farmer  may  use  the  same  machine  in 
his  fields  for  successive  years,  but  his  work  each  year 
is  new.  He  takes  good  care  of  his  machine,  but  his 
purpose  is  to  get  better  results  from  his  fields.  Your 
first  thought  should  be  not  for  your  subject,  but  for 
the  young  men  in  your  classes.  They  are  the  material 
on  which  your  efforts  are  to  be  expended.  Your  real 
work,  therefore,  is  always  new,  because  every  year  a 


OBJECTIONS    CONSIDERED  fl 

new  class  comes  under  your  instruction.  The  oppor- 
tunity to  study  human  nature  by  coming  in  contact 
with  many  different  classes,  and  with  youths  unlike  in 
character  and  temperament,  is  one  of  the  interesting 
features  of  a  teacher's  life.  However  familiar  you  may 
be  with  your  subject,  it  will  be  a  new  subject  to  each 
new  class.  Their  eagerness  to  learn  will  give  you  a 
fresh  interest  in  what  you  have  taught  many  times 
before,  and  the  more  you  know  about  it,  the  more  you 
will  enjoy  teaching  it. 

It  has  been  thought  by  some  teachers  that  the  calling 
is  under  a  greater  or  less  social  disadvantage;  that  a 
teacher  is  not  regarded,  even  by  the  parents  of  his 
pupils,  as  on  a  level  in  rank  with  other  young  men  of 
less  ability  and  attainments  who  belong  to  good  fam- 
ilies, because  he  supports  himself  by  work,  and  that 
in  general  those  who  get  their  living  by  teaching  are 
not  welcomed  in  good  society.  I  do  not  think  there  is 
ground  for  this  feeling.  If  this  were  true  of  a  teacher, 
it  would  be  equally  true  of  one  in  any  other  profession 
where  he  had  to  work  for  his  own  support,  and  a  self- 
respecting  young  man  would  not  resent  the  lack  of 
social  recognition  under  such  conditions.  To  earn 
one's  own  living  by  service  of  any  kind  is  many  times 
more  honorable  than  to  live  in  idleness  and  to  subsist 
on  the  earnings  of  another.  In  this  country  the  man 
who  accomplishes  something  worth  while  is  respected 
and  appreciated  by  all  who  are  themselves  worthy  of 
respect.  Among  any  class  of  people  for  whose  good 
opinion  we   care,   a  person's   social  standing  depends 


22  THE    YOUNG    MAN    AND    TEACHING 

chiefly  on  his  personal  qualifications  —  as  his  fund  of 
knowledge,  his  conversational  gifts,  his  manners  —  and 
very  little  on  his  occupation,  provided  the  occupation 
be  honorable. 

Another  objection  which  has  been  raised  against 
teaching  is  that  much  time  is  taken  up  with  "  drudg- 
ery." It  will  not  be  denied  that  a  part  of  the  work 
of  many  teachers  may  be  rightly  so  designated.  Most 
instructors  have  no  fondness  for  making  out  time 
tables  or  schedules  of  recitations  and  examinations,  or 
for  reading  and  marking  written  exercises  or  examina- 
tion papers.  If  a  teacher's  time  is  to  be  mainly  oc- 
cupied by  such  tasks,  the  calling  would  not  be  inviting 
to  many. 

A  little  experience  in  making  schedules  will  not  be 
for  any  one  a  mere  waste  of  time.  You  might  accept 
it  as  a  part  of  your  education.  After  a  few  trials, 
you  will  understand  how  difficult  it  is  to  satisfy  every 
one  and  will  be  less  ready  to  criticize  the  efforts  of  an- 
other when  the  task  no  longer  falls  to  you.  Much 
of  what  is  generally  considered  the  real  drudgery  of 
the  teacher,  i.  e.,  the  reading  of  papers,  may  be  avoided 
by  lessening  the  amount  of  written  exercises  and  written 
examinations.  It  is  no  doubt  for  the  advantage  of 
teacher  and  pupils  that  a  certain  proportion  of  the 
work  be  written.  But  in  many  schools  there  is  too 
much  written  work  for  the  efficiency  and  for  the  health 
of  the  teachers,  and  I  believe  there  is  also  too  much  for 
the  good  of  the  students,  who  get  greater  advantage 


OBJECTIONS    CONSIDERED  23 

from  personal  contact  with  the  teacher  in  oral  recita- 
tions. It  is  but  fair  to  remember,  however,  that  if  you 
expect  to  succeed  in  any  occupation,  you  must  be  ready 
to  give  a  considerable  amount  of  time  to  small  tasks 
in  themselves  uncongenial,  and  that  you  will  probably 
find  as  little  "  drudgery  "  in  teaching  as  in  most  other 
vocations. 

Where  boys  live  in  a  school  building,  the  supervision 
of  the  room  for  study  in  the  evening,  and  especially  of 
the  dormitory  by  day  and  by  night,  is  generally  con- 
sidered a  disagreeable  task.  It  does  encroach  on  the 
time  one  can  take  for  private  study,  and  if  the  super- 
vision is  not  uniform,  or  if  the  supervisor  is  nervous  and 
easily  irritated,  or  if  he  is  wanting  in  tact,  there  is 
danger  of  unpleasant  relations  between  him  and  some 
of  those  under  his  charge.  But  when  a  teacher  and 
a  not  too  large  number  of  boys  live  together  in  the 
same  building,  an  opportunity  is  offered  for  personal 
influence  which  must  not  be  undervalued  and  which 
some  teachers  in  schools  where  there  are  only  day  pupils 
have  told  me  they  would  be  glad  to  have.  If  one's 
thoughts  are  well  under  control,  and  if  he  has  a  definite 
plan,  it  is  possible  for  him  to  do  good  work  when  liable 
to  frequent  interruption,  and  even  when  living  in  the 
midst  of  restless  and  impulsive  boys.  We  read  that 
Dr.  Arnold  sat  at  his  study  table,  with  no  attempt  at 
seclusion,  with  conversation  going  on  in  the  room,  and 
surrounded  by  his  children  or  by  his  pupils;  that  he 
was  always  ready  to  break  off  his  occupation  to  re- 


£4  THE    YOUNG    MAN    AND    TEACHING 

ceive  visitors  or  to  answer  questions,  and  that  after  an 
interruption  he  took  up  again  his  writing,  as  if  it  had 
not  been  broken  off. 

There  are  men  who  ought  never  to  undertake  the 
supervision  of  a  dormitory,  but  for  many  teachers 
some  experience  of  this  kind  is  valuable  as  a  part  of 
their  training.  A  man  whose  life  work  is  to  be  the 
instruction  and  management  of  boys,  and  who  hopes 
to  become  sometime  the  headmaster  of  a  school,  will 
get  an  intimate  acquaintance  with  boy  nature,  which 
will  fit  him  to  deal  more  understandingly  with  all  kinds 
of  students,  if  at  the  beginning  of  his  career  he  lives 
for  a  period  in  close  daily  contact  with  the  young  life 
in  a  school  dormitory. 

If  you  devote  your  life  to  teaching,  you  will  no 
doubt  have  days  of  discouragement,  when  you  will  feel 
that  your  efforts  are  wasted  because  you  are  making  so 
little  impression  on  your  pupils,  and  because  there  are 
among  them  those  who  are  disrespectful  and  those  who 
show  no  appreciation  of  what  you  are  trying  to  do  for 
them.  They  will  sometimes  seem  incomprehensibly 
slow  of  understanding,  and  deficient  in  interest  and  am- 
bition. You  will  have  to  repeat  the  same  thing  over 
and  over,  and  may  then  find  some  whose  heads  it  has 
not  begun  to  penetrate.  Your  patience  will  be  tried, 
but  you  must  not  lose  it.  The  trouble  may  lie  partly 
with  you,  perhaps  mainly  if  you  are  of  an  ill  temper, 
and  your  students  may  not  be  as  bad  and  as  dull  as 
they  sometimes  seem  to  you.  Professor  Denison  Olm- 
sted tells  us  of  an  irritable  teacher  of  his  acquaintance 


OBJECTIONS    CONSIDERED  25 

who  grew  so  impatient  at  the  apparent  dullness  of  one 
of  his  pupils  that  he  finally  threw  the  book  at  him, 
exclaiming :  "  Eat  it !  Eat  it !  That  is  the  only  way 
you  will  ever  get  it  into  you."  But  he  adds  that  this 
man's  career  as  a  schoolmaster  was  abruptly  ended. 
He  quotes  also  the  words  of  a  Frenchman  whose  quick- 
tempered father  had  undertaken  to  teach  algebra  to 
him  when  a  boy  and  who  had  become  enraged  at  him 
because  he  would  not  accept  his  statements  unques- 
tioned. "  I  told  him  I  could  see  how  more  into  more 
produced  more,  but  how  less  into  less  produced  more 
was  what  I  could  not  see.  Says  he,  pointing  his  finger 
at  me,  '  You  one  jackass,'  and  throwing  down  his  book 
in  despair,  never  would  hear  me  recite  another  lesson, 
but  abandoned  me  as  an  incorrigible  dunce."  * 

You  cannot  expect  to  escape  the  dull  and  unin- 
terested, and  there  will  be  some  who  will  make  them- 
selves personally  disagreeable  to  you.  Every  teacher 
will  probably  have  pupils  in  his  classes  that  he  will 
be  right  glad  to  get  rid  of  at  the  end  of  the  year,  and 
he  will  also  be  pretty  sure  to  find  others  of  the  same 
sort  in  his  new  classes  when  another  year  opens.  Your 
entire  class  may  at  times  appear  to  have  lost  all  in- 
terest in  study.  Outside  attractions  will  disarrange 
your  plans,  and  social  or  other  engagements  will  absorb 
their  attention  at  a  time  when  for  some  special  reason 
you  are  making  unusual  effort  to  carry  them  along  as 
rapidly  as  possible  in  their  studies.     Such  experiences 

i  Am.  Journal  of  Education  and  College  Review,  April,  1856, 
Vol.  I,  p.  335. 


26  THE    YOUNG    MAN    AND    TEACHING 

are  enough  to  dishearten  almost  any  teacher.  But 
you  must  not  be  influenced  by  them  to  weaken  your 
efforts.  The  teacher,  like  the  preacher,  is  a  sower, 
who  goes  forth  to  sow.  Some  seed  will  fall  by  the 
wayside,  some  on  stony  ground,  some  among  thorns; 
but  just  as  surely  some  also  will  fall  on  good  ground 
and  bring  forth  fruit,  thirty,  sixty  or  a  hundred  fold. 

Days  of  discouragement  are  not  peculiar  to  the 
teacher.  The  pastor  of  a  country  church,  under  whose 
care  I  spent  my  boyhood,  did  a  work  which,  as  I  look 
back  upon  it,  seems  ideal.  He  had  come  to  the  church 
when  it  was  small,  weak,  and  divided.  He  lived  quietly 
among  his  people  for  twenty-eight  years,  and  at  his 
death  left  the  church  large,  strong,  and  united.  I  was 
greatly  surprised  to  learn  from  his  widow  that  there 
was  probably  no  year  in  his  whole  pastorate  when  he 
did  not  have  days  of  depression  because  he  seemed  to 
himself  to  be  accomplishing  so  little  that  he  felt  that 
he  was  not  doing  for  the  people  in  his  parish  what 
ought  to  be  done,  and  was  occupying  a  place  which 
he  was  not  fitted  to  fill.  I  suppose  that  all  men  who 
live  to  do  good  and  have  high  ideals,  appreciate  how 
much  there  is  to  be  done  and  have  such  periods  of  dis- 
couragement. 

An  objection  sometimes  raised  against  teaching  in 
private  schools  for  boys  is  that  in  the  most  of  them 
provision  is  made  only  for  masters  who  are  unmarried. 
This  tends  to  make  a  permanent  mastership  in  such 
schools  less  attractive.  It  seems  to  have  been  taken 
for  granted  that,  if  a  teacher  is  free  from  the  care  of 


OBJECTIONS    CONSIDERED  27 

a  family,  he  will  devote  more  time  to  his  students,  and 
that  he  will  have  more  interest  in  them  and  more  affec- 
tion for  them  if  he  has  no  domestic  ties.  In  some  cases 
this  may  be  true,  but  not  often.  The  influence  of  a 
good  home  makes  one  a  better  man.  One  who  has  a 
family  has  something  to  live  for  and  to  work  for,  and 
he  will  be  ambitious  to  do  his  best.  The  teacher  who 
has  children  of  his  own  will  have  more  sympathy  for 
other  people's  children,  will  better  appreciate  the  in- 
terest which  their  parents  have  in  them,  and  will  know 
better  how  to  deal  with  them.  When  the  families  of 
the  masters  meet  the  schoolboys  in  the  dining  room, 
are  present  at  their  entertainments,  take  an  interest  in 
their  sports,  and  welcome  them  to  their  homes,  they 
exert  a  refining  influence  on  the  school  life.  A  few  of 
the  best  schools  appreciate  the  advantage  of  having 
teachers  with  families  and  have  made  special  provision 
for  their  accommodation. 

One  reason  why  single  men  have  been  preferred  as 
masters  in  boys'  schools  is  that,  since  their  living  ex- 
penses are  less,  they  can  be  obtained  for  smaller  salaries, 
and  few  schools  have  been  in  a  condition  to  afford  more 
than  what  is  barely  necessary;  but  with  the  great  in- 
crease in  charges  for  tuition  and  residence,  and  with  the 
excessive  number  of  applications  for  admission,  this  rea- 
son will  not  long  continue  to  hold  good. 

The  teacher  is  an  employee  and  is  subject  to  the 
uncertainties  of  a  man  in  that  position.  He  does  not 
have  the  independence  of  the  lawyer  or  physician,  who 


28         THE    YOUNG    MAN    AND    TEACHING 

can  choose  his  location  and  settle  down  to  remain  in 
one  place  as  long  as  he  continues  to  practice.  In  many 
schools  the  teachers  are  appointed  for  short  periods, 
sometimes  for  a  single  year  only,  and  while  it  is  true 
almost  everywhere  that  a  good  teacher  is  sure  of  re- 
appointment, it  is  not  pleasant  to  think  of  the  pos- 
sibility that  the  school  authorities  may  discover  some 
one  who  in  their  judgment  will  do  your  work  better, 
or  equally  well  for  less  pay,  or  that  you  may  suffer 
from  the  introduction  of  new  methods  with  which  you 
are  not  familiar.  On  the  other  hand,  as  long  as  ap- 
pointments have  to  be  renewed  at  short  intervals,  there 
is  opportunity  for  the  Board  to  give,  with  any  renewal, 
advancement  in  rank,  or  an  increase  in  salary,  and 
the  teacher  has  constantly  before  him  an  urgent  motive 
for  the  best  possible  service,  so  that  his  case  may  be 
judged  favorably.  When  he  knows  that  his  place  is 
permanent,  the  temptation  to  gradually  relax  his  ef- 
forts is  sometimes  very  great. 

In  business  the  employer  is  expected  to  understand 
thoroughly  the  work  which  he  hires  a  man  to  do,  and  to 
be  able  to  tell  whether  it  is  well  done,  but  this  cannot 
often  be  said  of  those  who  employ  teachers  and  officers 
of  school  administration.  The  principal  of  a  public 
school  or  a  superintendent  holds  his  position  at  the 
pleasure  of  the  appointing  Board.  Whenever  they 
become  dissatisfied  with  him,  they  will  not  hesitate  to 
suggest  that  he  seek  another  place.  He  is  a  public 
servant  and  his  work  is  not  done  in  a  corner.  Like 
other  public  servants,  he  may  be  subject  to  much  crit- 


OBJECTIONS    CONSIDERED  29 

icism,  some  perhaps  deserved,  and  some  not.  Criticism 
may  reach  the  Board  from  parents,  from  colleagues, 
from  professional  faultfinders,  or  from  persons  who 
would  be  glad  to  get  his  place  for  themselves  or  for 
their  friends.  He  will  perhaps  find  it  wise  not  to  med- 
dle much  in  politics,  lest  some  members  of  the  Board 
have  objections  to  him  on  other  grounds  than  ineffi- 
ciency. One  cannot  feel  very  sure  of  a  position  which 
he  holds  by  the  authority  of  a  Board  which  is  itself 
subject  to  change  when  one  political  party  succeeds 
another  in  power. 

But  it  may  be  said  that  a  person  who  is  engaged  in 
teaching  or  in  administrative  work  has  hopes  generally 
of  being  called  to  a  better  position  and  would  hardly 
be  willing  to  bind  himself  to  remain  permanently  in  one 
place.  He  cannot,  therefore,  expect  the  school  author- 
ities to  bind  themselves  to  keep  him  permanently,  or 
until  he  is  called  elsewhere.  Removal  to  a  new  locality 
involves  some  physical  inconvenience,  but  there  may 
come  a  time  in  the  experience  of  almost  any  teacher  or 
administrative  officer,  whether  in  school  or  college,  when 
a  change  from  one  field  of  labor  to  another  will  be 
good  for  his  mental  well-being,  and  is  on  the  whole 
to  be  desired.  New  duties  in  a  new  field  will  call  forth 
new  vigor  and  enthusiasm.  If  you  find  it  wise,  on  any 
ground,  to  make  a  change,  you  may  reasonably  hope 
to  secure  a  better  situation,  and  of  course  your  expe- 
rience in  the  school  which  you  are  leaving  will  make 
you  more  efficient  in  the  new  one.  If  you  have  a  posi- 
tion with  which  you  are  so  well  satisfied  that  you  wish 


30         THE    YOUNG    MAN    AND    TEACHING 

to  keep  it  permanently,  the  only  way  to  be  sure  of  it 
is  to  fill  it  better  than  any  one  else  can. 

An  objection  to  this  vocation,  which  will  have  weight 
with  many  young  men,  is  the  inadequate  compensation 
of  those  who  teach.  Good  ability  and  unquestioned 
character  are  demanded  of  the  teacher.  His  prepara- 
tion is  costly,  but  his  services  seem  to  be  valued  at  less 
than  good  personal  qualifications  and  efficient  training 
deserve.  He  does  not  have  much  to  say  about  the 
amount  of  his  salary.  He  is  employed  to  teach,  and  if 
he  accepts  a  position  he  takes  the  salary  that  goes  with 
it.  Due  regard  for  his  own  welfare  and  for  the  health 
and  comfort  of  those  dependent  on  him  will  naturally 
lead  a  young  man  to  consider  carefully  whether  the 
work  to  which  he  wishes  to  devote  his  life  will  yield 
a  sufficient  income.  Perhaps  we  overestimate  the  in- 
come of  those  who  do  not  preach  or  teach.  When  we 
think  of  the  great  fortunes  sometimes  amassed  in  busi- 
ness, or  of  the  large  fees  of  a  few  eminent  lawyers  and 
doctors,  the  pay  of  the  schoolmaster  seems  small;  but 
the  teachers  who  prove  themselves  worthy  of  advance- 
ment to  high  positions  iare  not  in  general  poorly  paid. 
If  those  in  all  vocations  whose  success  is  unusual  were 
left  out  of  consideration,  I  believe  the  average  income 
of  teachers,  though  far  from  ample,  would  not  be  found 
so  very  much  below  the  average  in  other  callings. 
Now  when  so  much  special  preparation  is  required,  and 
when  only  the  well  qualified  can  find  places,  there  is 
ground  for  the  hope  that  the  compensation  of  good 
teachers  will  soon  be  more  nearly  commensurate  with 


OBJECTIONS    CONSIDERED  31 

the  service  rendered.  But  if  the  teacher's  income  is 
not  large,  it  is  regular  and  secure.  Hard  times  may 
reach  a  man  in  almost  any  other  occupation,  but  they 
are  not  likely  to  affect  the  teacher.  If  the  cost  of  liv- 
ing increases,  his  salary  will  probably  not  rise  in  pro- 
portion, as  in  justice  it  might ;  but,  on  the  other  hand, 
in  times  of  economy  and  retrenchment  he  need  not  be 
anxious,  as  he  is  not  likely  to  lose  his  position  or  have 
his  salary  reduced.  The  number  of  young  men  seeking 
the  advantages  which  secondary  schools  and  colleges 
offer  is  steadily  increasing,  and  there  is  sure  to  be  an 
increasing  demand  for  good  teachers. 

A  young  man  whose  chief  purpose  in  life  is  wealth 
ought  not  to  enter  any  of  the  regular  professions. 
The  men  who  have  become  great  lawyers  or  physicians 
or  surgeons  are  not  those  who  chose  their  lifework  for 
what  they  could  make  in  it.  If  one's  chief  motive  in 
selecting  a  profession  is  to  get  a  large  income  from 
it,  it  will  not  be  for  him  a  profession  but  only  a  kind  of 
business.  He  will  have  no  genuine  love  for  it  and  will 
not  rank  high  in  it.  The  teacher's  chief  compensation 
is  not  his  salary.  He  finds  his  reward  in  his  love  of 
his  vocation,  in  the  opportunity  which  it  offers  for  im- 
parting knowledge,  and  for  personal  influence  on  human 
lives,  in  the  joy  of  working  with  the  young,  and  in  the 
consciousness  that  he  is  helping  to  train  them  to  be 
good  citizens  of  ia  great  nation. 


CHAPTER  III 


PERSONAL    QUALIFICATIONS 


Qualifications  which  those  who  employ  teachers  desire.  An  ex- 
ample. Superior  physical  development.  Good  health.  Courage. 
Firmness.  Love  and  sympathy.  Self-control.  Brevity  of  speech. 
Enthusiasm.  Self-effacement  and  consecration.  Personality. 
Religion. 

What  qualifications  those  who  engage  teachers  desire 
to  find  in  candidates  who  are  recommended  to  them  for 
appointment  is  shown  very  plainly  by  the  questions 
which  they  ask  regarding  them.  I  have  received  from 
teachers'  agencies  or  from  school  authorities  requests 
for  information  about  applicants  on  all  of  the  follow- 
ing points: 

Success  in  teaching;  probable  success  if  inexpe- 
rienced. 

Moral  character. 

Popularity  with  students. 

Enthusiasm. 

Health. 

Influence  on  pupils,  both  in  and  out  of  school. 

Scholarship  and  training  (general  or  special). 

Ability  as  an  instructor. 

Ability  as  a  disciplinarian. 

Best  fitted  for  what  line  of  work. 

Personal  appearance;  neatness  in  dress. 

32  ; 


PERSONAL    QUALIFICATIONS  66 

Loyalty  to  superiors. 
Attitude  toward  colleagues. 
Tactfulness. 
Disposition. 

Standing  in  the  community. 
Has  he  cultivated  manners? 

Habits  or  peculiarities  liable  to  interfere  with  suc- 
cess. 

Has  he  any  physical  defects? 

It  will  be  seen  that  good  personal  qualifications  and 
successful  experience  are  considered  most  essential  by 
those  who  understand  the  needs  of  schools.  A  head- 
master writing  to  me  for  a  teacher,  some  years  ago, 
expressed  the  desire  of  most  men  responsible  for  the 
selection  of  teachers  for  secondary  schools :  "  I  want 
first  a  man,  second  a  teacher,  third  a  scholar."  Dr. 
Arnold's  views  were  much  the  same.  In  a  letter  of 
inquiry  for  a  master  he  wrote : 

"  What  I  want  is  a  man  who  is  a  Christian  and  a  gentle- 
man, an  active  man  and  one  who  has  common  sense  and  un- 
derstands boys.  I  do  not  so  much  care  about  scholarship, 
as  he  will  have  immediately  under  him  the  lowest  forms 
of  the  school;  but  yet,  on  second  thoughts,  I  do  care  about 
it  very  much,  because  his  pupils  may  be  in  the  highest 
forms ;  and  besides,  I  think  that  even  the  elements  are  best 
taught  by  a  man  who  has  a  thorough  knowledge  of  the  mat- 
ter. However,  if  one  must  give  way,  I  prefer  activity  of 
mind  and  interest  in  his  work  to  high  scholarship."  * 

i  Stanley,  The  Life  and  Correspondence  of  Thomas  Arnold,  New 
York,  1887,  Vol.  I,  p.  105,  note. 


L 


34*         THE    YOUNG    MAN    AND    TEACHING 

Professor  Denison  Olmsted,  in  his  article  on  The 
Gift  of  Teaching,  speaks  of  the  elder  President  Dwight 
as  combining  in  one  all  the  elements  of  a  great  teacher : 
"  The  benevolence,  which  earnestly  longs  for  the  good 
of  the  pupils,  and  never  tires ;  the  kindness  which  wins 
affection;  the  authority  which  secures  obedience;  the 
dignity  which  insures  respect;  the  accuracy  which  in- 
spires confidence;  the  zeal  which  awakens  enthusiasm; 
and  the  learning  which  compels  admiration."  x 

Among  my  early  schoolmasters,  James  Allen  seemed 
to  me  to  be  especially  well  endowed  by  nature  to  be  a 
teacher  of  youth.2  He  lived  in  the  little  village  in 
which  I  was  reared,  and  was  by  general  occupation  a 
surveyor  of  land  and  a  sort  of  country  squire,  settling 
estates  and  holding  town  and  county  offices.  During 
a  period  of  forty-two  years  he  taught  in  the  public 
schools  of  his  native  town  in  the  autumn  and  winter, 
when  not  in  the  state  legislature.  He  had  a  peculiar 
power  over  his  pupils.  He  quickly  aroused  in  them  an 
ambition  to  learn,  and  governed  without  effort  even 
boys  who  were  generally  unruly.  I  was  about  twelve 
years  of  age  when  I  came  under  his  influence.  He  had 
been  called  in  to  take  the  place  of  a  teacher  who  had  op- 
ened the  term  by  announcing  that  he  was  "  firmer  than 
the  hills  of  New  England,"  but  who  had  been  forced  to 
withdraw  by  a  gang  of  mischievous  boys  whom  he  could 
not  manage.  From  the  day  when  Mr.  Allen  began  his 
reign  in  that  schoolhouse,  there  was  no  attempt  at  dis- 

i  The    American   Journal    of   Education   and    College    Review, 
April,  1856,  Vol.  I,  p.  342. 
2  Knight,  Biography  of  Deacon  James  Allen,  Worcester,  1889. 


PERSONAL    QUALIFICATIONS  35 

order,  and  yet  he  did  not  govern  by  force.  I  never 
saw  him  inflict  bodily  punishment  on  any  pupil.  He 
could  give  ian  admonition  that  a  boy  would  never  forget, 
but  he  would  not  say  anything  to  make  the  boy  angry 
and  revengeful.  Some  of  his  power  was,  of  course, 
acquired  by  long  experience  in  the  schoolroom  and 
elsewhere,  but  he  was  fashioned  by  nature  to  be  a 
schoolmaster. 

He  was  tall  and  well-proportioned,  having  inherited 
a  powerful  physical  frame,  which  had  been  hardened 
and  developed  by  years  of  training  in  the  state  militia 
and  by  actual  service  in  the  Wiar  of  1812.  He  had 
great  physical  and  moral  courage.  No  fear  of  per- 
sonal violence  or  of  injury  to  his  property  ever  kept 
him  from  doing  his  duty  as  a  citizen  and  town  officer, 
and  of  course  he  had  no  fear  of  any  boy  or  combination 
of  boys  in  school.  He  was  firm  even  to  a  fault,  and 
his  pupils  knew  without  being  told  that  it  would  be 
folly  to  oppose  him  or  to  petition  him  to  make  any 
changes  in  his  carefully  arranged  plan.  He  had  a 
tender  and  loving  heart,  and  while  he  could  not  endure 
a  lazy  pupil,  he  had  unbounded  sympathy  and  encour- 
agement for  the  boy,  however  dull,  who  tried  to  do 
well.  In  school  he  was  calm  and  unruffled,  and  his 
pupils  might  have  inferred  that  he  was  never  tempted 
to  be  angry  or  impatient.  Quite  the  reverse  was  true. 
By  nature  he  had  a  rash  temper,  but  his  strong  will 
gave  him  the  power  to  hold  it  in  check.  As  a  dis- 
ciplinarian, he  was  a  man  of  few  words,  and  when  he 
gave  a  command  he  did  it  with  military  precision.     On 


\S 


36         THE    YOUNG    MAN    AND    TEACHING 

the  first  morning  he  announced  one  rule,  saying  that 
this  included  all  that  would  be  required  of  any  pupil. 
The  rule  was :  "  Do  right."  I  received  one  brief  but 
emphatic  reprimand  from  him  early  in  this  part  of 
the  term.  With  the  conceit  of  a  boy  of  twelve,  it 
seemed  good  to  me  one  evening  to  go  down  town  and 
sit  on  the  counter  of  the  village  store,  as  I  had  seen 
young  men  do.  He  came  in,  on  an  errand,  and  found 
me  there.  I  knew  that  he  liked  me,  for  my  work  in 
school  pleased  him,  and  I  looked  into  his  face  ready  to 
hear  him  greet  me  with  a  pleasant  "  Good  evening," 
but,  instead  of  that,  much  to  my  surprise,  he  said  in  a 
tone  of  authority :  "  Go  home !  "  I  lost  no  time  in  get- 
ting down  from  that  counter  and  moving  in  the  direc- 
tion which  he  had  indicated,  and  I  wasted  no  more 
evenings  at  the  village  store. 

Physical  excellence,  health,  courage,  firmness,  love, 
sympathy,  self-control,  brevity  of  speech,  were  among 
the  characteristics  of  this  early  teacher,  and  while  one 
may  be  a  good  instructor  who  lacks  the  most  of  them, 
they  go  a  long  way  toward  making  up  the  natural 
qualifications  of  a  good  schoolmaster. 

The  headmaster  appreciates  the  value  of  good  phys- 
ical development  in  a  teacher,  and  for  most  schools 
an  applicant  with  this  qualification  has  special  ad- 
vantages, which  are  much  increased  if  the  possessor  is 
also  skillful  in  any  form  of  field  sports.  The  youthful 
mind  makes  a  hero  of  a  teacher  who  comes  to  the  school 
with  an  athletic  record,  who  can  talk  understandingly 
about  the  games,  and  perhaps  take  part  in  them.     A 


PERSONAL    QUALIFICATIONS  37 

body  sound  from  birth  is  something  for  which  to  be 
everlastingly  thankful.  But  by  no  means  all  are  thus 
bounteously  endowed  by  inheritance.  Not  every  one  is 
tall  and  well-formed,  nor  are  all  born  with  strong  con- 
stitutions and  free  from  inherited  tendencies  to  disease. 
One  is  not  responsible  for  the  body  which  he  has  re- 
ceived from  his  ancestors,  but  he  should  remember  that 
the  body  which  he  now  has  is  the  only  one  which  he 
ever  will  have,  and  that  the  one  thing  to  do  is  to  make 
the  most  of  what  has  been  given  him.  While  a  man 
cannot  by  taking  thought  add  one  cubit  to  his  stature, 
he  can  by  taking  proper  care  in  most  cases  develop 
the  body  which  he  has  inherited  so  as  to  make  it  his 
servant,  to  stand  by  him  in  hard  places  till  he  reaches 
the  retiring  age. 

One  of  the  first  requisites  for  a  good  teacher  is  health. 
This  is  essential  for  his  own  success.  His  daily  task 
is  a  hard  one,  hard  enough  to  test  the  endurance  of 
the  strongest*  to  wear  the  average  teacher  out  before 
his  time.  He  owes  it  to  his  pupils  also  to  keep  in  such 
vigorous  health  that  he  may  be  always  at  his  best 
when  he  comes  before  them  in  the  classroom.  If  he  is 
strong  and  enthusiastic,  they  will  catch  his  enthusiasm. 
If  he  seems  weak  and  dispirited,  they  will  become  list- 
less. If  he  is  nervous,  his  manner  will  make  them 
nervous  also.  He  cannot  expect  their  spirits  to  rise 
above  his  own.  To  secure  and  retain  a  condition  of 
health  on  which  one  can  depend  requires  a  great  deal 
of  attention  to  nature's  laws,  generally  more  than  many 
teachers   are  ready  to  give.     We  all  understand  the 


38         THE    YOUNG    MAN    AND    TEACHING 

importance  of  regular  habits,  sufficient  sleep,  sensible 
diet,  a  reasonable  amount  of  exercise  in  the  open  air, 
and  wholesome  relaxation,  but  such  is  the  weakness  of 
human  nature  that  we  are  easily  influenced  to  leave 
undone  the  things  which  we  know  we  ought  to  do.  If 
one  is  not  willing  to  take  the  necessary  precautions  to 
preserve  his  health,  is  it  not  fair  to  assume  that  he  is 
not  really  ambitious  to  be  a  first-class  teacher? 

Unless  one  is  a  school  principal,  there  is  not  now  the 
same  need  of  the  kind  of  courage  that  was  essential  in 
the  old  days,  when  perhaps  the  most  highly  esteemed 
qualification  for  a  schoolmaster  was  the  ability  to  inflict 
adequate  punishment  on  the  unruly  and  ill-behaved  sons 
of  Belial.  But  one  must  uniformly  maintain  in  the 
schoolroom  an  air  of  authority,  which  the  whole  room 
will  respect,  and  must  have  sufficient  reserve  to  sustain 
that  authority.  He  must  insist  that  his  pupils  do 
what  they  are  told  ito  do,  without  opposition  or  ques- 
tion. He  must  be  the  absolute  ruler  of  them  all,  and 
not  be  ruled  by  them  or  by  any  one  or  two  of  them. 
The  weak-kneed  teacher  often  has  pupils  whom  he  dares 
not  discipline  or  reprimand.  It  will  not  do  to  let  a 
boy  discover  that  his  teacher  stands  in  fear  of  him  or 
is  afraid  to  tell  him  the  truth  about  himself  when 
occasion  requires  it. 

There  is  no  danger  now  of  a  personal  encounter  be- 
tween the  teacher  and  any  pupil  or  gang  of  pupils, 
either  in  school  or  outside  of  it.  The  courage  which 
the  world  needs  at  the  present  day  is  not  that  of  the 
bully  standing  up  for  his  rights,  but  that  of  the  manly 


PERSONAL    QUALIFICATIONS  39 

man  who  is  brave  enough  to  resist  public  sentiment  and 
to  meet  opposition  when  the  good  of  others  requires  it. 
It  takes  the  right  sort  of  courage  in  a  teacher  to  treat 
all  pupils  alike,  without  regard  to  their  social  stand- 
ing; to  show  no  favors  to  those  who  expect  them,  or 
whose  parents  expect  them;  to  acknowledge  a  mistake 
and  correct  it,  instead  of  covering  it  up  or  trying  to 
justify  it;  to  tell  a  pupil  unpleasant  truths  about  his 
rank  in  scholarship  or  his  conduct  or  character,  which 
it  will  do  him  good  to  know  and  which  he  dislikes  to 
hear;  to  check  promptly,  but  without  resentment,  any 
approach  to  unbefitting  familiarity;  to  stand  openly 
by  the  minority  among  either  pupils  or  teachers,  when 
the  minority  is  right. 

A  reasonable  degree  of  firmness  is  essential  in  one 
who  has  to  manage  the  young,  and  while  it  is  easily 
possible  for  firmness  to  grow  into  unreasonable  ob- 
stinacy, yet  it  is  a  quality  of  which  it  is  better  to  have 
too  much  than  too  little.  It  is  better  to  be  inflexible 
than  to  be  always  undecided.  It  is  good  for  a  young 
man  to  have  to  deal  with  a  teacher  whom  he  finds  stead- 
fast and  immovable.  It  may  teach  him  not  to  trifle 
with  the  laws  of  man  or  the  unchangeable  laws  of 
nature.  How  much  it  would  be  worth  to  him  if  he 
could  learn  thus  early  that  he  cannot  continue  to  dis- 
regard the  laws  of  health  without  sooner  or  later  hav- 
ing the  penalty  fall  heavily  upon  him!  The  govern- 
ment of  the  wavering  and  irresolute  teacher  is  harm- 
ful. If  it  is  his  habit  to  make  rules  which  he  fails  to 
execute  when  they  are  put  to  the  test,  how  can  his 


40         THE    YOUNG    MAN    AND    TEACHING 

boys  have  any  reverence  for  law  and  authority  ?  How 
can  he  expect  them  to  submit  unhesitatingly  to  his  re- 
quirements when  he  demands  one  thing  to-day  and  per- 
haps the  opposite  to-morrow?  Will  they  have  any 
confidence  in  him  as  a  master  when  he  punishes  the 
same  offense  now  with  suspension  and  now  with  an 
admonition?  It  will  be  recognized  by  the  pupils  as  a 
sign  of  weakness  to  hastily  decree  a  penalty  upon  an 
offender  and  then  promptly  take  it  back  when  he  or  his 
friends  make  an  appeal  and  petition  for  clemency. 

When  physical  superiority,  courage  and  steadfast- 
ness are  joined  with  love,  they  form  a  delightful  com- 
bination of  good  qualities.  A  strong,  brave  and  reso- 
lute man  with  a  big  heart  will  win  the  confidence  and 
support  of  any  boy,  either  good  or  bad.  Firmness 
and  tenderness  ought  always  to  go  together  in  the 
government  of  the  young.  The  two  are  not  inconsis- 
tent if  you  know  when  to  be  immovable  and  when  to 
show  clemency.  When  Tom  Brown  and  his  compan- 
ions, getting  back  late  and  stealing  in  through  the 
garden,  were  sent  limping  and  shivering  by  old  Thomas 
up  to  the  Doctor's  study,  after  their  unfortunate  ex- 
perience in  Tom's  first  run  at  Hare  and  Hounds,  Dr. 
Arnold's  tender  sympathy  was  better  than  "  twenty 
lines  to  learn."  The  indolent  and  mischievous  boy 
needs  a  firm  hand ;  the  one  who  does  as  well  as  he  can, 
and  still  has  many  faults,  needs  sympathy  and  en- 
couragement. A  teacher  with  a  loving  heart  will  have 
long  patience  with  the  mistakes  of  those  who  mean  well, 
and  will  see  something  good  in  every  one,  even  the  most 


PERSONAL    QUALIFICATIONS  41 

awkward  and  uninteresting.  He  will  be  considerate  of 
the  shy  and  sensitive  boy,  and  will  not  neglect  those 
who,  because  personally  unattractive,  lack  friendship 
and  companionship. 

It  is  not  often  that  an  educated  man  so  far  loses  his 
dignity  as  to  give  way  to  anger  in  the  presence  of  other 
people,  but  I  remember  a  teacher  who,  when  conducting 
an  exercise  before  a  school  of  some  three  hundred 
students,  became  suddenly  enraged  and  made  a  violent 
speech,  in  which  he  said  such  crazy  and  ludicrous  things 
that  the  inevitable  result  was  a  disorder  which,  in  his 
state  of  mind,  he  had  not  the  power  to  suppress.  He 
was  a  man  with  no  mean  reputation  as  a  writer,  but 
that  afternoon  he  shriveled  down  to  small  proportions. 
He  must  have  remembered  with  sorrow  that  unlucky 
event  till  the  day  of  his  death.  The  offense  was 
trifling;  what  it  was  I  have  long  since  forgotten,  but 
the  memory  of  that  wild  outburst  is  fresh  after  the 
lapse  of  sixty  years.  A  man  who  cannot  control  his 
anger  ought  to  keep  in  mind  the  words  of  George  Fitch : 
"  When  a  man  gets  mad,  he  stops  thinking  with  his 
brain  and  turns  the  job  over  to  his  fists  and  his  lungs. 
Then  he  produces  a  mess  of  ideas  as  a  child  produces 
art  with  a  pail  of  red  paint." 

I  have  known  teachers  in  the  classroom  who  by  dis- 
position were  quick  to  get  angry,  yet  were  not  easily 
provoked.  They  had  will  power  enough  to  keep  their 
angry  feelings  under  control.  A  teacher  with  a  hasty 
temper,  who  can  be  sure  to  hold  it  in  check,  is;  to  be 
preferred  to  one  who  will  stand  any  kind  of  ill-treat- 


42         THE    YOUNG    MAN    AND    TEACHING 

ment  iand  have  no  feeling  of  resentment.  Such  a  meekly 
submissive  nature  will  no  more  command  the  respect  of 
schoolboys  than  it  will  that  of  mature  men.  Righteous 
indignation  is  to  be  commended  whenever  there  is  occa- 
sion for  it,  but  one  can  show  the  strongest  opposition 
against  evil  without  making  a  foolish  display  of  ill- 
temper.  While  a  man  who  cannot  bridle  his  temper  is 
not  fit  to  deal  with  the  young,  one  who  has  a  quick 
temper  and  keeps  it  under  restraint  makes  an  excellent 
master,  because,  having  learned  by  patient  discipline 
how  to  control  himself,  he  knows  how  to  manage  those 
under  him. 

There  are  some  gifted  teachers  who  can  talk  fluently 
on  any  subject  and  command  attention,  because  they 
make  themselves  understood,  are  entertaining,  and 
have  something  to  say  to  which  it  pays  to  listen;  but 
in  general  the  great  talker  beclouds  his  subject,  is 
wearisome,  and  does  not  give  you  much  which  you 
can  carry  laway.  Some  of  the  pupils  of  such  a  teacher 
may  make  a  vain  effort  to  follow  him,  but  the  most 
will  give  up  the  chase  and  trust  to  luck.  If  he  intro- 
duces a  story,  they  will  probably  remember  that;  but 
when  they  come  to  sift  down  what  they  are  able  to 
get  from  his  lecture,  it  will  seem  to  them  mostly  chaff. 
No  man  need  hesitate  to  become  a  teacher  because  he 
has  only  an  ordinary  command  of  language  and  is  not 
known  as  a  gifted  talker.  That  deficiency,  if  it  be  a 
deficiency,  may  prove  a  distinct  advantage.  Brief  and 
exact  statements  and  explanations,  clearly  expressed 
and  arranged  in  proper  order,  though  harder  for  the 


PERSONAL    QUALIFICATIONS  43 

teacher  to  make,  are  better  for  the  pupils  than  long- 
drawn-out  disquisitions  that  only  confuse  them. 
There  is  a  fault  into  which  a  teacher  who  likes  to  hear 
himself  talk  easily  falls;  he  leaves  the  subject  of  the 
lesson  and  goes  wandering  off  on  a  side-track  which 
seems  to  have  no  end,  on  some  sudden  impulse  or  per- 
haps in  response  to  a  question  raised  by  a  cunning 
pupil  who  wishes  to  avoid  being  called  upon  to  recite. 
The  man  who  talks  too  much  makes  a  poor  teacher. 
The  best  teachers  are  those  who  know  before  they  meet 
their  classes  what  they  intend  to  say,  and  say  it  in 
clear  and  concise  language  that  can  be  understood 
and  remembered. 

When  advice  or  admonition  needs  to  be  given,  a  very 
few  words  spoken  deliberately  and  with  authority,  have 
a  more  lasting  effect  than  a  long  and  exasperating  talk. 
You  have  seen  a  quiet  little  teacher  sit  at  his  desk  and 
keep  strict  control  of  his  room  with  no  effort,  giving 
directions  when  needed  in  a  calm  and  moderate  tone 
or  by  a  glance  or  a  motion  of  the  hand.  The  best  man- 
aged and  most  orderly  rooms  are  not  those  in  which 
the  teachers  are  of  the  blustering  sort,  who  consume 
much  time  in  useless  shouting  and  in  unheeded  demands 
for  better  order. 

Our  schools  have  been  criticized  because  there  is  not 
found  among  the  pupils  more  genuine  interest  in  study. 
Cannot  boys  be  influenced  to  do  their  tasks  in  school 
from  better  motives  than  to  get  a  passing  mark  or  to 
escape  a  letter  home?  With  so  many  excellent  text- 
books and  books  of  reference,  with  such  an  abundance 


44         THE    YOUNG    MAN    AND    TEACHING 

of  apparatus  and  illustrative  material,  why  is  it  not 
possible  to  interest  them  to  such  a  degree  that  they 
will  enjoy  the  intellectual  exercises  of  the  classroom 
as  thoroughly  as  they  enjoy  the  sports  of  the  athletic 
field?  Does  not  the  student's  lack  of  interest  often 
reflect  the  indifference  of  the  teacher?  Enthusiasm  on 
the  part  of  the  instructor,  enthusiasm  for  his  subject 
and  for  teaching  the  subject  to  others,  is  what  is  neces- 
sary in  order  to  create  enthusiasm  among  those  who 
are  taught.  The  teacher  who  is  in  love  with  his  subject 
and  is  fond  of  the  young  cannot  help  enjoying  his 
work  and  becoming  enthusiastic  in  the  pursuit  of  it. 
He  looks  into  the  future  and  sees  the  grand  results 
that  may  come  from  his  efforts,  in  the  mental  and 
moral  growth  of  his  pupils,  and  in  their  better  prepara- 
tion for  future  usefulness.  His  courage  and  hope  and 
earnestness  are  contagious  and  arouse  an  interest  in 
many  who  have  never  been  interested  before.  The 
pupils  of  the  indifferent  teacher,  whose  manner  is  cold 
and  distant,  will  not  study  for  the  love  of  it  amid  the 
most  favorable  surroundings. 

One  instructor  gets  on  well  with  boys,  while  another, 
with  many  fine  qualities  and  the  best  intentions,  finds 
himself  incompetent.  People  notice  with  what  appar- 
ent ease  some  men  control  and  interest  their  classes, 
and  they  say  these  men  are  "  born  teachers  " ;  but  the 
qualities  which  they  have  inherited  would  have  given 
them  a  good  measure  of  success  in  other  callings. 
They  know  enough  about  human  nature  to  understand 
how  to  approach  their  students  in  order  to  gain  their 


PERSONAL    QUALIFICATIONS  45 

good-will  and  support.  They  are  not  lacking  in  com- 
mon sense,  are  not  annoyed  by  trifles,  know  what  to 
notice  and  what  to  overlook,  what  to  do  and  what  to 
avoid.  In  a  sudden  emergency  they  have  enough  pres- 
ence of  mind  to  say  the  right  thing  or  to  keep  silent, 
and  enough  self-control  to  avoid  rashness.  They  pos- 
sess a  kind  of  tact,  partly  native  and  partly  acquired 
by  experience,  by  which  they  are  able  to  deal  with  pupils 
without  apparent  effort  and  without  friction,  and  to 
make  them  do  hard  tasks  with  some  degree  of  eager- 
ness and  pleasure.  The  best  teacher  of  the  young  is 
one  who,  having  many  innate  qualifications  for  teach- 
ing, has  consecrated  his  life  to  this  service.  One  rea- 
son for  his  success  is  his  self-forgetfulness,  his  whole- 
hearted devotion  to  the  interests  of  his  students.  He 
puts  himself  in  their  place.  They  are  his  chief  con- 
cern ;  he  is  never  too  busy  to  help  them.  Both  his  time 
and  his  strength  are  theirs  when  they  need  it.  His  in- 
struction is  not  meager,  nor  poorly  prepared;  he  gives 
them  the  best  he  has.  He  may  not  be  a  great  scholar, 
but  because  his  chief  purpose  is  to  help  his  pupils  to 
become  wise  and  good  men,  he  is  positive  and  precise 
in  what  he  teaches  them  and  demands  accuracy  and 
promptness  on  their  part.  He  not  only  understands 
boys,  but  he  loves  them  and  believes  in  them,  and  in  re- 
turn they  will  believe  in  him.  His  presence  among 
them  brings  order  and  attention.  For  him  they  will 
work.  To  please  him  and  have  his  approval  becomes 
with  them  an  ambition.  In  his  classroom  things  seem 
to  go  of  their  own  accord,  and  self-control  and  interest 


46  THE    YOUNG    MAN    AND    TEACHING 

in  study  become  with  them  almost  a  matter  of  course. 

Beside  the  manifest  influences  which,  in  a  great  de- 
gree, are  understood  and  can  be  explained,  there  is  a 
silent  influence  which  goes  out  unconsciously  from  the 
teacher's  personality  and  life :  an  influence  which  takes 
its  quality  from  what  the  man  is:  from  what  he  has 
inherited,  from  the  knowledge  which  he  has  acquired 
by  his  own  efforts,  from  what  he  has  become  in  char- 
acter by  years  of  self-discipline,  from  his  beliefs  and 
from  his  ideals.  This  involuntary  influence  reaches  the 
pupils  and  may  be  good  or  bad.  If  the  teacher  has 
the  right  kind  of  personality  it  puts  the  pupils  in  a 
right  attitude  towards  their  work  and  makes  the  teach- 
er's instruction  and  discipline  effective.  The  silent  in- 
fluence of  a  devoted  teacher  of  true  nobility  of  char- 
acter, who  has  a  real  interest  in  his  pupils,  makes  a 
more  lasting  impression  upon  them  and  molds  their 
lives  for  future  usefulness  far  more  than  the  influence 
of  one  who  is  selfish  or  indifferent  however  scrupulously 
he  fulfills  the  requirements  of  his  calling.  It  may  be 
hard  to  understand  it,  but  the  unconscious  influences 
which  go  out  from  our  lives  are  just  as  real  as  those 
which  are  the  result  of  carefully  made  plans  and  are 
more  powerful  because  they  go  beyond  the  mind  and 
reach  the  heart.  Influences  that  reach  the  mind  only 
are  easily  forgotten ;  those  that  touch  the  heart  endure. 

The  teacher  needs  all  the  help  that  he  can  get  from 
personal  religion.  The  great  masters  have  been  men 
of  faith  in  God  and  have  been  upheld  by  an  unfaltering 
trust  in  his  living  presence.     It  has  been  this   that 


PERSONAL    QUALIFICATIONS  47 

has  given  them  their  greatest  power  over  the  young 
men  who  have  looked  up  to  them  for  guidance  and  in- 
spiration. Their  influence,  for  the  most  part,  has  not 
come  so  much  from  public  moral  teaching  or  from 
religious  addresses  as  from  the  silent  example  of  con- 
secrated lives,  from  their  transparent  unselfishness,  and 
from  their  devotion  to  high  ideals.  The  greatest  of  all 
teachers  was  the  Son  of  Man,  who  taught  men  as  in- 
dividuals, who  showed  them  how  to  live  by  living  among 
them  as  a  model  for  them  to  follow,  who  made  them  ap- 
preciate the  purpose  of  human  existence  and  the  dig- 
nity of  service,  who  taught  them  what  they  needed  most 
to  know  in  language  which  they  could  understand,  and 
took  his  illustrations  from  common,  everyday  life,  who 
cared  more  for  principles  than  for  rules,  who  believed 
in  the  possibilities  of  the  men  whom  he  taught,  who 
developed  them  by  giving  them  responsibility,  and 
aimed  to  make  them  self-controlled,  strong  to  resist 
temptation,  and  bold  to  face  danger;  whose  quiet  in- 
fluence has  reached  around  the  globe  and  has  revolu- 
tionized human  thought.  We  all  can  learn  how  to 
teach  by  a  study  of  his  life  and  his  methods  of  reaching 
men,  and  the  nearer  we  are  to  him,  the  nearer  we  shall 
get  to  those  whom  it  is  our  privilege  to  teach  and 
guide. 


CHAPTER  IV 


EDUCATIONAL,  PREPARATION 


Good  home  training.  The  habit  of  observation.  Appreciation 
of  the  spirit  of  the  age.  Broad  and  thorough  general  education. 
Specialization  in  one  subject.  Extensive  preparation  necessary 
for  a  college  position.  Some  graduate  studies  desirable  for  sec- 
ondary school  teaching.  Opportunity  for  observation  lessons  in 
teaching.  College  men  in  the  public  school  service.  Training 
schools  for  teachers.  Special  training  and  experience  needed  for 
administrative  work.  Advantages  of  study  in  a  teachers'  college. 
Advice  to  one  planning  to  prepare  himself  in  a  special  field.  To 
continue  to  be  a  good  teacher,  one  must  continue  to  grow. 

The  best  foundation  for  the  education  of  a  teacher 
is  laid  in  childhood,  in  the  home  of  a  Christian  family 
of  culture,  where  the  children  are  brought  up  by  a 
sensible  father  and  mother  and  taught  to  be  neat  and 
regular  in  their  habits,  to  speak  the  English  language 
correctly,  to  respect  and  obey  their  parents,  and  to 
have  a  reverence  for  sacred  things.  It  is  not  discredi- 
table, and  it  is  generally  no  disadvantage,  that  the 
family  is  not  wealthy.  To  be  helpful  at  home  pre- 
pares one  for  larger  usefulness  when  the  home  is  left 
for  a  wider  field.  A  family  with  a  large  income  is  less 
likely  to  produce  teachers  than  one  in  moderate  cir- 
cumstances, where  the  offspring  are  reared  under  im- 
mediate parental  influences  and  not  left  to  the  care  of 
nurses   and  governesses.     Courteous   intercourse  with 

48 


EDUCATIONAL    PREPARATION  49 

brothers  and  sisters  in  a  well-mannered  family,  and  with 
family  friends  both  young  and  old,  gives  one  the  self- 
confidence  in  the  presence  of  others  that  enables  him 
to  appear  at  ease  in  any  society.  The  lack  of  good 
breeding  in  early  life  may  at  any  time  betray  itself  by 
awkwardness  of  manner,  and  rudeness  and  looseness  of 
speech.  Many  candidates  otherwise  unobjectionable 
have  failed  to  secure  the  positions  which  they  sought 
from  an  obvious  want  of  that  social  refinement  which 
results  from  good  home  training. 

The  teacher  who  has  not  enjoyed  in  childhood  the 
refining  influences  of  a  cultured  family  must  not  forget 
the  great  importance  of  good  manners  and  of  correct 
habits  of  speech.  He  may  make  up  in  a  great  degree 
for  his  loss  by  observation  and  study  and  constant 
watchfulness,  but  the  early  rusticity  may  crop  out 
when  least  desired  or  expected.  Wrong  habits,  espe- 
cially those  of  speech  and  manners  formed  in  childhood, 
are  not  easy  to  subdue,  and  when  one  is  in  circumstances 
where  he  is  anxious  to  appear  at  his  best  there  will  be 
danger  lest,  as  in  the  case  of  the  ass  parading  in  the 
lion's  skin,  the  ears  stick  out. 

It  is  especially  important  that  one  planning  to  be  a 
teacher  should  cultivate  his  powers  of  observation. 
The  facts  that  have  been  learned  by  experience  will  be 
very  real  to  you,  and  these  are  the  ones  that  will  have 
most  interest  for  your  class.  They  will  listen  eagerly 
if  you  tell  them  something  which  you  yourself  have 
observed  or  have  worked  out,  when  material  gained 
from  books  would  not  hold  their  attention.     Careful 


50  THE    YOUNG    MAN    AND    TEACHING 

observation  of  the  relation  between  cause  and  effect  in 
different  people,  and  a  study  of  the  same  in  one's 
self,  will  improve  one's  knowledge  of  human  nature,  of 
which  a  teacher  cannot  have  too  much.  The  man  who 
best  understands  human  nature  is  the  one  who  knows 
best  how  to  get  on  well  with  other  people  so  as  to  do 
them  good,  whether  they  be  old  or  young. 

The  teacher  should  be  acquainted  with  the  spirit 
and  movements  of  the  age  in  which  he  lives.  He  may 
teach  the  history,  the  thought,  or  the  language  of  the 
distant  past,  but  he  must  live  in  the  present,  and  know 
what  men  in  our  own  land  and  time  are  thinking  about 
and  what  they  are  doing;  and  he  must  appreciate  the 
needs  and  understand  the  habits  and  the  peculiar  temp- 
tations of  boys  of  the  present  day,  if  he  would  reach 
and  influence  them. 

Whatever  branch  of  study  may  finally  become  a 
teacher's  specialty,  his  general  education  ought  to  be 
broad  and  thorough.  He  will  get  safely  over  many 
hard  places  if  he  has  the  intellectual  training  which 
fits  him  to  take  up  a  new  and  difficult  problem  so  as 
readily  to  understand  and  master  it.  Good  mental 
training  will  give  him  self-confidence  and  self-control 
and  the  capacity  for  planning  his  work  wisely.  Work 
well  planned  is  half  accomplished.  Information  also, 
gained  in  various  fields,  will  add  greatly  to  the  value 
of  his  instruction  in  the  classroom.  A  knowledge  of 
philosophy,  of  many  branches  of  science,  and  of  differ- 
ent languages,  and  a  familiar  acquaintance  with  the 
Bible,  will  be  helpful  in  teaching  the  language  and  liter- 


EDUCATIONAL    PREPARATION  51 

;ature  or  history  of  any  people.  A  teacher  of  science 
should  be  a  good  mathematician,  and  a  teacher  of  math- 
ematics is  naturally  interested  in  science.  Much  read- 
ing of  good  books  should  furnish  material  for  illustra- 
tions. A  story  told  briefly  and  to  the  point  will  very 
often  help  out  a  recitation  that  drags  on  a  dull  day, 
and,  if  it  fits  in  well,  is  not  out  of  place  on  any  day. 
When  actually  enlisted  in  the  service,  most  teachers 
will  find  justification  for  making  use  of  any  proper 
help  that  will  render  their  teaching  more  effective.  But 
it  is  better  for  you  to  gather  your  own  illustrations 
and  anecdotes  than  to  get  them  at  wholesale  from  col- 
lections made  by  others,  though  these,  like  any  helps 
or  keys,  may  be  in  a  way  useful  to  those  who  have 
neither  the  time  nor  the  disposition  nor  the  energy  to 
do  such  work  for  themselves. 

If  you  wish  to  secure  a  good  place  in  a  school  of  high 
rank,  you  must  specialize  in  one  subject  or  in  a  group 
of  closely  related  subjects.  You  may  be  called  upon 
to  teach  other  branches  also;  but  your  reputation  as 
a  teacher  will  depend  chiefly  on  your  success  in  your 
special  line.  It  is  desirable  that  this  subject  should 
be  the  one  which  you  love  best  and  think  most  impor- 
tant; first,  for  your  own  pleasure  in  living  in  it,  and 
second,  because  you  cannot  make  your  pupils  believe 
that  your  subject  is  important  unless  you  thoroughly 
believe  so  yourself;  and  it  is  perfectly  proper  for  you 
to  show  so  great  an  enthusiasm  for  it  that  they  will 
come  to  feel  that  it  is  the  most  valuable  study  of  all. 
In  case  you  are  dependent  on  your  income,  it  will  be 


52  THE    YOUNG    MAN    AND    TEACHING 

wise  to  consider  whether  the  subject  which  you  prefer 
is  one  in  which  there  is  likely  to  be  a  demand  for  teach- 
ers. The  greater  the  demand,  the  greater  the  chance 
of  securing  a  remunerative  position.  There  is  hardly 
room  for  the  very  best  teachers  in  a  subject  which  only 
a  few  students  care  to  take.  It  is  perhaps  well  to 
keep  in  mind  also  that  there  may  be  important  changes 
in  the  subjects  accepted  for  admission  to  college  dur- 
ing the  next  few  years,  as  well  as  in  the  studies  of  those 
students  who  finish  their  education  in  the  secondary 
schools,  and  that  when  new  subjects  are  introduced 
there  will  be  a  call  for  good  teachers  in  them,  and 
perhaps  a  less  demand  for  teachers  in  some  of  the 
older  studies. 

Your  preparation  in  your  special  subject  should  be 
thorough.  A  boy  will  lose  confidence  in  a  teacher  when 
he  discovers  that  he  is  telling  all  that  he  knows  about 
a  subject  and  has  no  knowledge  in  reserve.  I  remem- 
ber a  college  tutor  who  was  unable  to  allow  a  student, 
who  had  received  leave  of  absence  for  a  day,  to  recite 
that  day's  lesson  in  advance,  giving  as  a  reason,  "  Why, 
I  have  not  yet  got  that  lesson  out  myself !  "  The  same 
tutor  taught  college  Latin  for  a  year  before  he  knew 
that  there  was  such  a  book  as  a  classical  dictionary. 
I  have  often  thought  of  a  remark  made  by  a  member  of 
my  first  Freshman  class,  who  had  taught  many  years 
before  coming  to  college :  "  It  will  not  do  for  a  teacher 
to  let  his  pupils  find  out  that  he  has  to  tip  his  own 
measure  clean  up  in  order  to  fill  theirs." 

One  may  foolishly  block  his  own  way  to  advancement 


EDUCATIONAL    PREPARATION  53 

by  settling  down  permanently  in  school  work  before  he 
is  adequately  prepared  in  his  special  subject.  Under- 
graduate college  studies  by  no  means  cover  all  that  one 
ought  to  know  if  he  is  ambitious  to  attain  the  highest 
success  possible  for  him.  These  should  be  supple- 
mented by  further  courses  in  some  graduate  school. 

If  your  ambition  is  to  secure  a  college  position,  a 
long  period  of  study  is  necessary,  and  a  Doctor's  de- 
gree is  now  generally  considered  indispensable.  This 
degree  is  everywhere  accepted  as  evidence  that  you 
have  completed  a  considerable  amount  of  advanced 
work,  and  that  the  faculty  of  the  university  which  con- 
ferred the  degree  has  confidence  in  your  scholarship, 
ability  and  character.  It  will  not,  of  course,  be  taken 
as  evidence  that  you  have  special  qualifications  for 
teaching  or  research.  Your  standing  and  influence  as 
a  college  or  university  professor,  should  you  be  ap- 
pointed to  such  a  position,  will  depend  much  on  the  in- 
spiration which  you  receive  from  the  scholars  under 
whom  you  pursue  your  graduate  studies.  It  is  desir- 
able, therefore,  that  you  get  the  most  valuable  courses 
of  leading  professors  in  your  department  in  more  than 
one  university.  In  planning  for  a  college  career,  there 
is  little  danger  of  continuing  your  preparation  too  long 
or  of  making  it  too  thorough.  If  circumstances  allow, 
you  should  aim  to  have  the  benefit  of  what  you  have 
reason  to  believe  is,  for  you,  the  best  instruction  any- 
where offered,  whether  in  this  country  or  any  other. 

For  the  secondary  schools,  principals  are  generally 
satisfied  with  teachers  who  have  done  less  advanced 


54  THE    YOUNG    MAN    AND    TEACHING 

work ;  but  if  your  purpose  is  to  teach  in  a  school  which 
prepares  for  college,  you  ought  to  carry  on  graduate 
studies  in  your  specialty,  together  with  some  courses 
in  education,  far  enough,  at  least,  to  secure  the  Mas- 
ter's degree.  Some  principals  feel  that  too  much  grad- 
uate study  unfits  teachers  for  sympathetic  work  with 
boys.  It  is  quite  possible  that  a  teacher  may  know 
so  much  about  his  subject  that  he  will  find  it  difficult  at 
first  to  adapt  his  instruction  to  those  who  are  but  be- 
ginners, but  I  do  not  believe  there  is  danger  of  knowing 
too  much.  Any  one  naturally  fitted  to  be  an  instructor 
of  youth  can  make  himself  understood  by  any  class  if 
he  really  wishes  to  do  so.  If  he  is  working  for  his 
pupils,  and  not  for  himself,  he  will  be  willing  to  take 
time  enough  to  arrange  his  material  in  logical  order, 
and  to  use  language  which  they  can  understand  and 
readily  follow. 

A  college  student  expecting  to  teach  has  a  good  op- 
portunity to  study  the  art  of  teaching  by  observing  the 
methods  of  his  different  instructors.  Every  recitation 
or  lecture  is  not  only  an  exercise  in  instruction,  but 
also  for  him  an  observation  lesson  in  teaching.  He 
can  get  ideas  that  will  be  very  valuable  to  him  in  his 
vocation  by  observing  how  a  skilled  instructor  conducts 
his  classroom  exercises,  how  he  gets  the  attention  of  the 
class  and  holds  it  to  the  end  of  the  hour,  how  he  ar- 
ranges and  presents  his  material  so  as  to  be  readily 
understood  and  followed,  how  he  secures  accuracy  in 
note  taking,  and  how  he  manages  to  make  his  students 
work.     Being  himself  a  pupil,  and  understanding  what 


EDUCATIONAL    PREPARATION  55 

effect  the  different  methods  of  his  instructors  have  on 
him,  he  can  judge  how  each  method  will  be  received 
by  a  class,  and  he  will  profit  by  the  effort  to  discover 
what  it  is  that  gives  an  instructor  power  over  his 
students,  and  what  it  is  that  impairs  his  influence  with 
them. 

When  a  college  man  decides  to  devote  his  life  to  the 
public  school  service,  he  has  in  mind,  of  course,  a  posi- 
tion of  leadership.  A  few  years  ago  a  young  man  who  ^/' 
desired  to  become  a  teacher  could  begin  in  a  country 
town  during  the  winter  term,  or  in  a  grammar  school 
in  a  city.  Many  of  the  successful  educational  leaders 
began  in  that  way ;  some  of  them  taught  before  going 
to  college,  and  after  graduation  returned  to  public 
school  work.  Others,  with  no  training  outside  that 
gained  by  experience,  earned  promotion  to  high  posi- 
tions. Many  college  students  then  paid  their  expenses 
in  part  by  teaching  country  schools,  generally  in  the 
winter,  the  winter  vacation  being  made  long  to  give 
students  this  opportunity.  Now  the  public  schools, 
both  in  city  and  in  country,  are  taught  mostly  by 
women,  many  of  whom  have  been  specially  trained  in 
normal  schools  or  in  city  or  country  training  schools, 
and  very  few  men  are  employed  as  regular  teachers  in 
the  common  schools. 

Much  that  formerly  had  to  be  gained  by  years  of 
experience  can  now  be  learned  from  schools  established 
for  the  special  training  of  teachers.  In  them  prospec- 
tive teachers  are  instructed  in  principles  and  methods, 
as  well  as  in  the  subjects  which  they  are  to  teach.     One 


56  THE    YOUNG    MAN    AND    TEACHING 

great  advantage  of  normal  school  training  lies  in  the 
opportunity  to  put  in  practice  what  is  taught.  The 
pupils  are  required  to  give  lessons  in  the  school  itself, 
under  the  supervision  of  expert  teachers,  and  often 
have  as  part  of  their  regular  training  the  opportunity 
for  observation  of  schoolroom  practice,  and  for  prac- 
tice teaching  in  certain  nearby  elementary  schools. 
Hence,  when  normal  school  graduates  receive  appoint- 
ments, the  work  is  not  new  or  strange  to  them.  They 
are  in  a  condition  to  avoid  mistakes  that  wholly  inex- 
perienced teachers  are  liable  to  make,  and  probably 
know  more  about  the  best  methods  of  teaching  than  the 
most  of  them  would  ever  have  learned  by  experience. 
The  matter  of  discipline  would  seem  to  be  the  only 
one  which  need  cause  them  trouble.  When  giving  les- 
sons in  the  normal  school,  they  have  no  responsibility 
for  discipline,  and  in  the  elementary  school  the  room 
is  under  the  control  of  the  regular  teacher.  When 
normal  schools  were  established,  the  design  was  to  train 
promising  candidates  of  both  sexes  for  service  in  the 
public  schools,  but  now  the  students  in  the  normal 
schools  are  mostly  young  women,  many  of  whom  be- 
come excellent  teachers,  and  some  become  efficient  prin- 
cipals and  superintendents. 

In  general,  there  is  now  very  little  chance  for  a  young 
man  who  goes  to  college  to  take  up  public  school  work 
till  he  has  completed  his  college  studies,  and  then,  if  he 
is  without  special  training  and  is  without  experience 
as  a  teacher,  a  board  of  education  would  hardly  venture 
to  elect  him  as  principal  or  superintendent.     He  needs 


EDUCATIONAL    PREPARATION  57 

therefore  to  prepare  himself  for  administrative  work 
in  the  public  schools,  as  he  would  prepare  himself  for 
any  other  vocation,  by  special  study.  While  an  under- 
graduate student  he  should  seek  the  advice  of  the 
professors  who  offer  instruction  in  education,  and  plan 
to  take  such  courses  as  they  recommend,  which  will 
without  doubt  include  educational  psychology,  history 
and  principles  of  education,  and  school  organization. 
Some  of  the  courses  which  they  advise  will  probably 
be  graduate  courses.  If  they  are  not  open  to  him  as 
an  undergraduate,  he  will  perhaps  wish  to  remain  for 
an  extra  year  and  take  them  in  the  graduate  school. 

It  need  hardly  be  said  that  a  young  man  on  leaving 
college  can  have  little  hope  of  receiving  an  appointment 
as  school  principal  unless  he  has  already  had  success- 
ful experience  as  a  teacher.  If  he  is  without  such  ex- 
perience, he  may  find  in  a  high  school  a  chance  to 
test  himself,  and  he  will  have  here  an  opportunity  to 
study  in  a  more  practical  way  the  application  of  prin- 
ciples of  education  and  school  management  which  he 
has  learned  from  books  and  lectures.  There  is  a  dis- 
position on  the  part  of  most  boards  of  education  to 
prefer  men  rather  than  women  as  principals  of  the 
large  grammar  schools,  and  in  some  cities  principals 
are  almost  without  exception  college  or  university  men. 
Principals  in  the  cities  are  often  selected  from  high 
school  teachers  of  ability,  especially  those  who  have 
done  graduate  work  in  education  at  a  good  university. 

One  who  is  to  be  a  principal  of  a  school  in  which  the 
instruction    is    given   by    teachers    trained   in   normal 


58  THE    YOUNG    MAN    AND    TEACHING 

schools,  himself  needs  a  course  of  professional  training 
to  enable  him  to  exercise  intelligent  supervision  of  the 
instruction  in  the  several  grades,  and  to  have  a  sympa- 
thetic appreciation  of  what  his  teachers  are  trying  to 
accomplish.  The  courses  taken  at  the  college  may 
with  very  great  advantage  be  supplemented  by  further 
study  at  a  school  of  education  or  teachers'  college,  or 
the  educational  department  of  any  good  university 
which  makes  a  specialty  of  educational  administra- 
tion. To  such  a  school  a  college  graduate  can  go  to 
prepare  himself  for  an  administrative  position  in  the 
public  schools,  as  he  would  go  to  a  professional  school 
to  prepare  himself  for  law  or  medicine  or  the  ministry. 
If  he  comes  from  an  approved  college  with  a  satis- 
factory record  for  scholarship  and  character,  he  may 
perhaps  get  in  one  year  as  much  preparation  as  he 
thinks  he  needs,  but  if  the  members  of  the  Faculty  who 
know  him  well  advise  further  study,  it  will  probably  pay 
him  better  in  the  end  to  continue  long  enough  to  get  a 
Master's  or  a  Doctor's  degree. 

I  unhesitatingly  advise  one  without  experience,  who 
is  thinking  of  devoting  his  life  to  teaching,  to  take  a 
position  in  a  school  for  a  few  terms  before  spending 
much  time  in  graduate  study  to  prepare  himself  in  some 
special  field,  and  for  these  reasons: 

(1)  He  may  discover  that  he  is  not  fitted  by  nature 
to  be  a  teacher.  The  only  sure  test  of  fitness  is  to  be 
found  in  actual  service  in  the  classroom.  A  man  may 
come  with  the  best  recommendations  honestly  written 
by   former   instructors,   in   whose   judgment  he   gives 


EDUCATIONAL    PREPARATION  59 

promise  of  success,  and  yet  not  be  able  to  interest  his 
pupils  or  control  a  room. 

(ft)  He  may  find  that  he  does  not  like  teaching  and 
could  not  be  happy  if  he  should  spend  his  life  in  it. 
He  is  fortunate  if  he  discovers  this  in  season.  This 
advice  would  apply  to  any  other  profession,  but  in 
teaching  it  is  easier  to  make  the  experiment  without 
great  loss  of  time.  In  every  profession  there  are  many 
who  find  out  when  it  is  too  late  that  they  have  made 
a  wrong  choice. 

(3)  After  an  experience  of  a  year  or  more  in  teach- 
ing, you  will  know  better  what  you  need  to  get  from 
further  study  in  the  graduate  school,  and  especially 
how  to  profit  by  the  methods  of  the  professors  under 
whom  your  studies  are  to  be  carried  on.  Until  you 
have  had  some  experience  yourself  in  teaching,  you  are 
not  in  a  condition  to  get  the  best  results  by  observing 
the  methods  of  other  teachers. 

(4*)  When  you  have  finished  your  preparation  and 
desire  to  secure  a  more  permanent  appointment,  noth- 
ing will  help  you  so  much  as  a  certificate  that  you  have 
already  had  successful  experience  as  a  teacher.  A 
principal  knows  the  risk  that  he  runs  in  giving  a  place 
in  his  school  to  an  inexperienced  candidate,  but  when 
this  risk  is  entirely  removed,  he  is  generally  quite  ready 
to  accept  a  man  on  a  favorable  recommendation  for 
scholarship  and  character. 

Teaching  cannot  continue  to  be  a  satisfactory  oc- 
cupation to  one  who  has  ceased  to  grow  and  who  no 
longer  has  the  ambition  and  energy  to  keep  up  his 


60         THE    YOUNG    MAN    AND    TEACHING 

studies.  In  general,  service  under  such  circumstances 
would  become  drudgery  to  him,  and  it  would  be  un- 
profitable for  the  school.  It  is  not  possible  to  stand 
still  intellectually,  and  merely  going  over  the  daily  les- 
sons with  a  class  will  not  prevent  mental  stagnation. 
The  teacher  who  has  reached  his  limit,  who  has  de- 
veloped as  far  as  it  seems  probable  that  he  ever  will, 
cannot  long  be  retained  in  a  good  position.  One's 
interest  in  his  subject,  his  desire  to  become  a  superior 
instructor,  and  his  ambition  to  stand  well  in  his  pro- 
fession, should  stimulate  him  to  as  much  private  study 
as  he  can  find  time  for.  If  he  has  only  a  Bachelor's 
degree,  it  will  be  well  for  him,  under  the  momentum 
with  which  he  comes  to  his  first  years  of  teaching,  to  go 
on  with  his  studies  with  the  hope  of  receiving  a  higher 
degree.  But  whether  he  has  in  mind  a  degree  or  not, 
he  will  accomplish  much  more  if  these  studies  are  carried 
on  under  the  direction  of  the  faculty  of  a  graduate 
school,  to  whom  he  has  to  make  report  of  progress. 

The  objection  may  be  raised  that  teaching  leaves  no 
time  for  study  and  investigation  beyond  what  is  neces- 
sary for  the  daily  routine;  but  by  carefully  planning 
your  work,  and  learning  to  do  it  rapidly,  and  by  turn- 
ing to  a  good  purpose  some  of  the  minutes  and  hours 
generally  spent  in  idleness  or  in  some  kinds  of  diversion 
that  are  more  than  half  idleness,  you  will  find  that  you 
have  time  to  accomplish  almost  anything  you  wish, 
if  you  are  in  earnest.  Besides,  there  is  the  long  vaca- 
tion, a  part  of  which  may  profitably  be  devoted  to 
study.     As  Benson  puts  it :  "  It  is  clear  that  as  a  rule 


EDUCATIONAL    PREPARATION  61 

the  principal  reason  which  keeps  a  man  from  reading, 
writing,  private  work  of  any  kind,  in  a  busy  life,  is  not 
that  he  is  too  busy,  but  that  he  does  not  really  want  to 
do  it."  l 

A  live  teacher's  preparation  is  not  finished  as  long 
as  he  remains  in  active  service.  He  is  learning  every 
year  something  new  about  his  subject,  and  understands 
better  how  to  present  it  so  as  to  impress  it  upon  his 
pupils ;  and  when  in  later  years  he  looks  back  upon 
his  work,  one  deep  regret  is  that  he  could  not  have 
begun  when  in  his  strength,  with  the  knowledge  of 
things  and  the  knowledge  of  young  men  which  he  now 
has. 

i  Benson,  The  Schoolmaster,  New  York,  1908,  pp.  108  and  109. 


CHAPTER  V 


INSTRUCTION 


The  main  purpose,  intellectual  growth.  Teaching  pupils  how 
to  study.  The  teacher  should  forget  himself  and  think  only  of 
his  pupils.  Honest  and  independent  work.  Enthusiasm  and  in- 
terest in  gaining  knowledge  and  power.  The  old  required  courses 
and  modern  elective  courses.  The  need  of  small  divisions  in  sec- 
ondary schools.  The  few  students  of  unusual  talent.  Tempta- 
tion to  substitute  "  lectures  "  for  drill  exercises.  Pupils  not  to  be 
allowed  to  shirk  disagreeable  tasks.  The  recitation.  Drill  mas- 
ters. How  to  secure  and  hold  the  attention.  The  recitation  an 
important  event.  Method  of  conducting  a  recitation.  Dr.  Taylor's 
Method  of  Classical  Study.  Laziness  and  dullness.  Special  priv- 
ileges. Prizes  and  awards.  Attempting  to  conceal  ignorance. 
Acknowledge  mistakes. 

When  you  meet  a  class  in  the  recitation  room  at  the 
beginning  of  the  year,  this  question  will  naturally  pre- 
sent itself :  "  What  is  to  be  the  purpose  of  my  work 
with  these  boys  in  this  course?  "  The  task  before  you 
seems  plain.  They  will  come  to  you  day  by  day  during 
the  school  year;  you  will  assign  the  lessons,  hear  the 
recitations,  explaining  as  far  as  is  necessary  what  is 
not  already  clear,  and  will  take  care  that  they  do 
their  work  thoroughly  and  honestly.  At  the  end  of  the 
year  they  should  have  a  good  knowledge  of  your  sub- 
ject and  be  able  to  pass  a  creditable  examination  on 
it  for  advancement  to  a  higher  grade,  or  for  gradua- 


INSTRUCTION  63 

tion,  or  for  admission  to  some  other  institution.  If 
they  do  this,  you  will  feel  that  your  work  with  them 
has  been  satisfactory,  and  it  will  be  so  regarded  by  the 
authorities  to  whom  you  are  responsible. 

But  however  important  and  useful  the  knowledge 
gained  from  your  course  may  be,  the  acquisition  of 
this  knowledge  is  not  the  only  result,  nor  the  cliief 
result,  that  ought  to  come  from  their  year  of  study 
with  you.  The  question  for  you  to  consider  is  not 
merely  what  your  pupils  can  do  at  the  end  of  this 
year,  but  also  what  they  will  be  able  to  do  ten  or 
twenty  years  hence.  A  private  tutor  could  in  a  few 
weeks  cram  them  on  a  year's  work  for  an  examination 
in  which  they  would  pass,  without  the  development  of 
any  of  their  mental  powers.  What  they  acquire  this 
year  is  of  far  less  consequence  than  the  method  by 
which  they  acquire  it. 

We  expect  the  boy  to  do  his  classroom  exercises  as 
well  as  he  would  if  each  were  an  end  in  itself,  but  these 
exercises  are  valuable  chiefly  because  they  are  the 
means  by  which  his  intellectual  growth  is  to  be  gained. 
When  he  has  finished  his  course  of  study  covering  many 
years,  he  should  have  much  information  that  will  be 
useful  to  him,  but  he  will  need  something  besides  infor- 
mation and  something  more  than  the  ability  to  pass  an 
examination  on  what  he  has  been  taught  by  an  instruc- 
tor. He  will  then  be  called  upon  to  make  investigations 
of  his  own,  to  take  up  entirely  new  problems  and  new 
subjects  and  master  them  readily.  It  is  of  the  ut- 
most importance,  therefore,  that  in  his  daily  tasks  he 


64         THE    YOUNG    MAN    AND    TEACHING 

be  so  taught  and  drilled  that  he  may  be  steadily  gain- 
ing the  power  upon  which  his  success  in  life  will  to  a 
great  extent  depend.  The  man  who  is  satisfied  to 
remain  always  a  subordinate  is  well  enough  educated 
for  his  position  when  he  has  acquired  the  knowledge  and 
skill  necessary  for  his  work;  but  the  men  who,  under 
teachers,  or  by  their  own  unaided  effort,  have  gained 
by  constant  training  such  control  of  all  their  powers 
that  they  can  use  them  up  to  their  limit  when  they 
will,  these  will  be  the  leaders. 

Most  boys  need  to  be  taught  how  to  study.  Some 
learn  this  lesson  very  late,  and  many  never  learn  it 
at  all.  They  dawdle  over  their  lessons  and  make  need- 
less mistakes.  They  should  be  taught  how  to  save  time 
by  planning  their  work  in  advance,  how  to  begin  the 
solution  of  a  new  problem  at  the  right  end,  and  should 
be  required  to  have  a  clear  knowledge  of  the  meaning 
of  the  words  they  use.  They  should  be  made  to  ap- 
preciate the  necessity  of  frequent  reviews  for  things 
that  are  to  be  learned  by  heart,  and  the  importance 
of  laying  a  good  foundation  for  a  piece  of  work  by 
first  mastering  the  things  that  are  fundamental.  They 
should  be  drilled  to  think  quickly,  and  at  the  same 
time  accurately,  to  concentrate  their  attention  on  one 
subject,  and  to  develop  a  memory  on  which  they  can 
depend.  They  will  need  these  acquisitions  when  they 
start  in  for  themselves,  and  after  years  spent  in  study 
they  ought  not  to  have  to  gain  them  by  additional 
years  of  experience  in   the  actual  business   of  life. 

The  aim  of  the  teacher  should  be  to  show  his  pupils 


INSTRUCTION  65 

how  to  study  the  subject  rather  than  the  book;  how, 
in  their  reading  of  text  books,  to  study  the  thought 
and  not  the  words ;  how  to  get  the  main  ideas  of  a  pas- 
sage and  then  give  them  in  their  own  language  instead 
of  trying  to  commit  the  words.  This  seemed  to  me 
to  be  one  of  the  best  results  of  the  college  training  of 
fifty  years  ago.  The  most  satisfactory  discovery  of 
my  Senior  year  was  to  find  that  thirty  pages  of  difficult 
reading  were  more  easily  mastered  then  than  six  at  the 
beginning  of  Freshman  year. 

In  the  classroom  the  teacher  should  forget  himself 
and  think  only  of  his  students.  He  will  accomplish 
little  with  them  if  his  chief  aim  is  to  make  a  display 
of  his  own  knowledge.  He  is  in  the  school  to  help  in 
their  development,  and  must  work  in  the  way  that  is 
best  for  them,  and  not  in  the  way  that  is  most  agree- 
able to  him.  Lengthy  explanations  by  the  teacher  are 
easier  for  him  than  classroom  drill,  but  drill  is  better 
for  the  students.  The  method  of  instruction  should 
be  such  as  to  make  the  pupil  think  for  himself.  That 
he  may  learn  to  think  rapidly  and  accurately,  he  needs 
those  exercises  that  require  him  to  fix  his  attention 
closely  on  one  question  and  find  the  correct  answer 
in  the  shortest  possible  time.  Competition  is  a  great 
help  in  such  exercises.  On  the  ability  to  keep  one's 
mind  fixed  on  a  given  subject,  all  good  work  depends. 
The  pupil  should  be  taught  to  give  a  reason  for  his 
statements.  "  Why  do  you  think  so  ?  "  "  How  do 
you  prove  it? "  are  helpful  questions.  I  remember 
well  how  much  more  valuable  the  exercises  became  when 


66  THE    YOUNG    MAN    AND    TEACHING 

we  were  far  enough  advanced  to  have  a  teacher  in 
ancient  languages  who  often  asked  why  we  preferred 
one  construction  or  one  meaning  of  a  word  to  some 
other.  Do  not  expect  your  students  to  agree  with 
you  in  all  your  views  and  explanations,  but  rather 
hope  that  they  will  not.  If  your  teaching  is  having 
the  right  effect  upon  them,  they  ought  to  begin  to 
think  for  themselves  and  to  pass  judgment  on  what  you 
tell  them  and  on  what  they  read  in  books  and  papers. 
The  teacher  must  insist  that  lessons  set  to  be  com- 
mitted to  memory  be  so  thoroughly  learned  that  they 
can  be  given  without  error  and  without  hesitation. 
Looseness  in  these  exercises  will  leave  the  boy  with 
dull  and  uncertain  memory,  and  he  will  soon  be  in  doubt 
himself  whether  what  he  thinks  he  remembers  is  so  or 
not.  Dr.  Soule  of  Exeter  used  to  tell  his  students : 
"  You  must  not  only  know  a  thing,  but  you  must  know 
that  you  know  it." 

The  present  method  of  deciding  on  a  candidate's  fit- 
ness for  admission  to  college  presents  to  the  student  an 
effective  motive  for  honest  and  independent  work. 
Some  of  us  can  remember  when  the  chief  part  of  the 
examination  for  admission  was  based  on  set  portions 
of  certain  books  in  mathematics  and  ancient  languages. 
It  was  possible  then  for  a  candidate  who  had  used 
helps  in  his  preparatory  school  to  hand  in  a  paper 
which  would  be  accepted,  when  he  was  not  prepared  to 
enter  college.  If  he  had  a  good  memory,  he  could 
give  a  fairly  correct  rendering  of  a  passage  in  a  Latin 
or  Greek  author,  the  construction  of  which  he  did  not 


INSTRUCTION  67 

understand.  He  could  learn  by  heart  the  demonstra- 
tions in  geometry.  Now  in  mathematics  he  is  tested 
in  original  problems,  and  in  the  languages  a  consid- 
erable part  of  his  examination  is  at  sight.  Under 
these  conditions  he  cannot  make  a  creditable  showing 
unless  he  has  done  his  own  thinking  and  has  learned 
to  depend  on  himself. 

The  demand  of  the  present  day  is  that  studies  be 
made  interesting.  If  the  teacher  is  allowed  to  limit 
himself  to  his  chosen  field,  is  thoroughly  equipped  in 
it,  loves  it,  and  loves  his  work,  and  knows  how  to  teach, 
and  if  his  pupils  have  studies  suited  to  their  capacity, 
they  will  catch  his  spirit,  and  under  him  even  a  dry 
subject  will  be  made  interesting.  A  subject  may  be 
so  presented  that  it  will  be  attractive  and  popular  with- 
out having  much  value  in  education  and  without 
awakening  any  real  interest  in  the  class  which  takes  it. 
There  can  be  no  genuine  interest  in  the  pursuit  of  a 
subject  which  is  made  so  easy  that  it  can  be  followed 
without  effort,  and  which  presents  no  difficulties  to  be 
overcome.  The  kind  of  interest  which  the  teacher 
should  aim  to  arouse  among  his  pupils  is  that  which 
makes  them  eager  to  master  the  subject,  which  grows 
as  their  knowledge  of  it  increases,  and  which  is  sus- 
tained up  to  the  end  of  the  course. 

In  the  early  schools  and  colleges  of  America  it  was  not 
thought  necessary  to  adapt  the  instruction  to  the  needs 
and  capacities  of  individual  students.  All  the  members 
of  a  class  were  taught  the  same  subjects  and  in  the 
same  way.     In  their  preparation  for  college  all  read 


68         THE    YOUNG    MAN    AND    TEACHING 

the  same  authors  in  Greek  and  Latin  and  the  same 
amount  in  each;  all  had  the  same  training  in  mathe- 
matics and  in  any  other  branch  taught  in  the  regular 
course.  After  the  boy  entered  college  his  work  was 
the  same  as  that  of  every  other  member  of  his  class. 
If  a  new  subject  was  introduced,  every  one  had  to  take 
it.  Allowance  was  not  made  for  a  difference  in  capac- 
ity or  taste,  and  persons  who,  on  account  of  peculiar 
mental  characteristics,  could  get  no  real  advantage 
from  certain  studies  were  forced  to  pursue  them.  The 
progress  of  the  class  was  determined  by  what  the  aver- 
age student  could  do.  The  bright  and  capable  and 
interested  were  held  back  by  the  dull  and  poorly  fitted 
and  indifferent,  and  the  only  way  open  to  him  who 
could  not  or  would  not  keep  up  was  to  fall  back  and 
go  a  second  time  over  the  same  studies  in  the  same 
way. 

The  modern  arrangement  of  college  studies  in  differ- 
ent groups,  to  be  chosen  according  to  taste  or  capacity 
or  plans  for  future  work,  with  the  wide  range  of  sub- 
jects now  accepted  from  candidates  for  admission, 
gives  the  student  the  opportunity  to  get  more  out  of 
his  education,  and  to  the  teacher,  especially  the  teacher 
of  languages,  the  chance  to  introduce  greater  variety 
in  reading,  if  he  finds  it  monotonous  to  go  over  the  same 
ground  year  after  year.  While  the  boy  should  be  made 
to  do  well  the  portions  of  his  work  that  are  hard  and 
disagreeable,  it  is  not  wise  to  force  him  to  take  for  the 
main  part  of  his  education  courses  of  study  for  which 
he  has  no  natural  capacity  and  in  which  he  can  take  no 


INSTRUCTION  69 

interest.  Mental  discipline  is  acquired  by  the  effort 
to  gain  knowledge ;  but  is  there  any  reason  why,  under 
efficient  teachers,  mental  discipline  cannot  be  acquired 
by  the  effort  to  gain  knowledge  that  is  useful?  The 
opportunity  is  now  offered  to  the  one  who  is  wisely 
guided  in  selecting  his  college  and  his  special  depart- 
ment of  study,  to  get  the  subjects  which  he  is  qualified 
to  pursue  with  profit,  and  the  young  man  of  the  present 
day,  when  he  leaves  college  or  the  professional  school, 
ought  to  be  far  better  fitted  for  the  duties  before  him 
than  his  grandfather  or  father  was  at  the  same  age. 
For  the  greatest  efficiency,  the  courses  of  study  in 
the  secondary  schools  should  be  so  planned  as  to  meet 
the  condition  and  need  of  each  individual  student.  To 
this  end  adequate  provision  should  be  made  for  in- 
struction in  small  divisions  and  for  special  instruction 
under  carefully  selected  teachers  of  the  few  more  tal- 
ented and  earnest  boys.  There  are  subjects  that  can- 
not be  satisfactorily  taught  to  large  divisions.  This 
is  true  of  most  studies  taken  up  in  a  preparatory 
school,  where  so  much  time  is  necessarily  devoted  to 
drill  exercises  and  where  a  student's  progress  depends 
to  so  great  an  extent  on  the  opportunity  given  him  to 
recite.  As  Professor  Hans  Oertel  says :  "  A  boy  can 
no  more  learn  a  new  language  by  hearing  some  one  else 
recite,  than  he  can  learn  to  play  the  piano  by  hearing 
some  one  else  play."  In  a  small  division  the  pupils 
have  a  great  advantage  in  the  personal  influence  of  the 
teacher,  not  only  over  their  habits  of  study,  but  also 
over  their  conduct  and  character.     When  a  teacher  has 


70  THE    YOUNG    MAN    AND    TEACHING 

only  a  few  pupils  at  a  time,  unwelcome  questions  of 
discipline  mostly  disappear,  and  the  pleasant  relations 
between  teacher  and  pupils  have  a  permanent  and  up- 
lifting influence.  There  are  college  instructors,  mas- 
ters of  their  subjects  and  of  the  art  of  teaching,  who 
can  hold  the  attention  of  every  student  in  a  large 
class ;  but  it  is  too  much  to  expect  a  teacher  in  a  pre- 
paratory school,  where  he  is  responsible  for  the 
progress  of  each  individual  student,  to  do  his  best 
work  in  a  division  of  thirty  to  forty  boys.  When  there 
is  ample  provision  for  small  divisions,  the  very  best 
students  can  be  put  together  and  need  not  be  held 
back  by  the  slow  progress  of  the  dull  and  indifferent, 
who  can  get  instruction  better  adapted  to  their  wants 
when  placed  in  a  division  by  themselves. 

It  gives  a  teacher  great  inspiration  to  discover  now 
and  then  that  he  has  in  his  class  a  student  of  un- 
usual talent.  He  will  naturally  be  anxious  to  give  him 
every  reasonable  opportunity  to  develop  his  powers, 
and  will  feel  that  such  a  pupil  ought  not  to  be  held 
back  in  his  progress  by  a  class  which,  when  spurred  on 
to  its  utmost,  cannot  do  half  as  much  as  his  talented 
pupil  can  do  easily.  If  such  a  boy  is  taken  out  of 
school  and  put  under  a  private  tutor,  he  will  make 
greater  progress  in  his  studies,  but  will  lose  the  valu- 
able experience  of  associating  with  other  students  and 
of  forming  acquaintances  with  agreeable  companions, 
some  of  which  may  ripen  into  delightful  friendships. 
Because  he  is  a  boy  of  unusual  mental  ability  and  fond 
of  study,  he  may  become  eccentric  and  unsocial,  and 


INSTRUCTION  71 

especially   needs    the   opportunity   for   companionship 
and  friendship  which  a  large  class  offers. 

But  a  boy  of  unusual  promise  ought  to  be  given 
unusual  opportunities.  He  probably  will  wish  to  do 
more  than  the  class  does.  In  that  case,  what  he  needs 
from  his  teacher  is  not  so  much  additional  instruction 
as  wise  guidance,  advice  as  to  studies  and  books,  and 
occasional  talks  about  the  extra  work  which  he  is  at- 
tempting to  carry  on  outside.  It  is  not  improbable 
that  his  special  talent  may  be  in  a  subject  not  taught 
in  the  school  and  in  which  his  teacher  cannot  guide 
him.  If  it  proves  so,  it  may  be  wise  to  encourage  him 
to  give  to  it,  under  the  direction  of  some  competent 
authority,  whatever  time  he  can  spare  from  his  regular 
studies ;  and  it  is  not  likely  that  these  will  suffer  in 
consequence.  If  a  bright  and  capable  boy  has  a  special 
talent  for  any  particular  line  of  work,  there  is  strong 
probability  that  he  will  find  therein  the  field  of  activity 
for  which  nature  has  destined  him.  I  have  in  mind  a 
student  who  came  to  college  with  a  great  fondness  for 
botany.  He  had  become  interested  in  this  subject  be- 
fore he  entered  the  preparatory  school,  and  had  been 
encouraged  by  the  principal  to  continue  the  study, 
mostly  outside  the  regular  curriculum,  during  his  pre- 
paratory course.  In  college  he  had  almost  no  oppor- 
tunity to  pursue  botany  as  a  regular  study,  as  it  was 
given  only  as  an  elective  in  one  term.  But  during  his 
four  academic  years,  under  the  general  direction  of 
the  professor  of  botany  in  the  Sheffield  Scientific  School, 
he  spent  as  many  hours  in  the  private  study  of  his 


72  THE    YOUNG    MAN    AND    TEACHING 

favorite  subject  as  he  gave  to  all  his  regular  courses 
taken  together.  That  he  did  not  neglect  his  college 
studies  is  shown  by  his  rank  in  them,  which  placed  him 
among  the  best  ten  in  a  class  of  about  one  hundred  and 
fifty.  He  is  now  head  of  the  Department  of  Botany  in 
the  University  of  California. 

The  master  who  is  eager  to  interest  his  pupils  or  to 
hasten  their  progress  is  in  danger  of  yielding  to  the 
temptation  to  do  their  work  for  them,  and  to  be  satisfied 
with  requiring  them  to  reproduce  at  a  following  recita- 
tion what  he  has  given  them.  It  makes  the  exercise 
pleasant,  and  if  he  insists  on  their  learning  thoroughly 
what  he  dictates,  he  can  prepare  them  to  pass  a  good 
examination.  But  this  method  of  teaching  does  not 
educate.  It  amounts  to  little  more  than  an  exercise 
of  memory.  The  boy  does  not  develop  mental  strength 
and  independence  because  he  does  no  thinking  for  him- 
self. The  really  valuable  part  of  his  education  will 
come  from  what  he  himself  does  and  not  from  what  he 
sees  his  teacher  do  or  other  members  of  his  class.  One 
gets  help  so  easily  from  teachers  who  make  a  practice 
of  giving  all  their  instruction  by  "  lectures  "  that  he 
soon  shrinks  from  hard  intellectual  work.  "  It  does 
not  help  a  student  to  do  his  problems  for  him,  any  more 
than  it  does  an  athlete  to  do  his  exercise  for  him." 
It  is  worth  many  times  as  much  to  a  boy  to  discover  a 
truth  by  his  own  investigation  as  it  is  to  receive  it 
from  his  teacher  without  study.  Even  if  the  only  ob- 
ject of  education  were  to  acquire  knowledge,  this  would 
be  a  sure  way,  for  what  one  learns  by  hard  study  is  long 


INSTRUCTION  73 

remembered,  while  the  information  which  he  has  ac- 
quired from  others  without  effort  on  his  part  easily 
passes  out  of  mind.  College  students  are  good  judges 
of  the  value  of  what  they  get  from  their  instructors, 
and  while  they  have  a  reputation  (greater  than  the 
facts  warrant)  for  selecting  easy  courses,  they  know 
what  is  good  for  them  and  what  not,  and  when  talking 
seriously  about  their  studies,  for  the  most  part  agree 
that  the  student  is  more  helped  by  instructors  who  are 
very  exacting  in  the  daily  requirements  of  the  class- 
room, and  that  the  most  valuable  courses  are  not  those 
which  are  attractive  simply  because  they  are  easy  and 
pleasant  and  require  little  sustained  effort,  but  those  in 
which  the  students  are  conscious  of  thorough  mastery 
of  the  subject. 

In  general,  those  schools  will  draw  the  best  class  of 
boys,  and  will  have  the  longest  waiting  lists,  which  are 
most  strict  in  their  requirements  for  admission  and 
for  graduation,  provided  that  they  pay  due  attention 
to  the  physical  and  moral  sides  of  education  and  are 
not  characterized  by  narrow  and  petty  rules. 

There  are  but  few  people,  young  or  old,  who  find  all 
their  allotted  work  equally  agreeable.  The  boy,  then, 
is  not  unlike  his  father  if  he  finds  among  the  tasks  set 
for  him  some  which  he  would  be  glad  to  avoid.  All 
will  agree  that  he  should  be  taught  to  do  every  part  of 
his  work  well  and  not  to  neglect  what  seems  to  him 
unimportant.  In  his  training  for  self-control  he  should 
try  to  concentrate  his  thought  on  those  parts  that  have 
at  first  no  interest  for  him.     If  he  has  the  courage  and 


74         THE    YOUNG    MAN    AND    TEACHING 

persistence  to  stick  to  a  disagreeable  task,  he  will 
become  interested  in  it  and  will  have  especial  pride  and 
satisfaction  in  its  accomplishment.  For  one  in  train- 
ing for  hard  service,  the  disagreeable  tasks  are  per- 
haps the  most  important  of  all.  It  is  not  possible  to 
tell  in  advance  what  will  prove  important,  and  what 
not,  and  the  only  way  to  be  ready  to  meet  any  test, 
either  in  school  or  in  life,  is  to  be  thoroughly  prepared 
on  all  points.  The  habit  of  doing  all  parts  of  his 
work  equally  well  will  be  of  inestimable  value  to  any 
man.  If  in  his  business  or  profession  he  does  only 
what  he  most  enjoys,  and  neglects  that  part  which  is 
disagreeable,  he  cannot  expect  to  avoid  disappoint- 
ment. One  is  sometimes  surprised  to  discover  how 
much  success  in  a  task  which  he  has  undertaken  has 
depended  on  careful  attention  to  the  small  and  un- 
pleasant details. 

Every  teacher  will  have  his  own  method  of  conduct- 
ing a  classroom  exercise.  One  will  be  little  more  than 
an  educational  machine  if  he  is  satisfied  to  be  only 
an  imitator  of  others,  though  a  beginner  may  have  to 
be  guided  by  what  he  has  seen  other  teachers  do  till 
he  has  perfected  a  method  of  his  own.  Francis  Gard- 
ner said  to  a  newly  appointed  assistant  in  the  Boston 
Latin  School :  "  I  shall  demand  of  you  results,  but  you 
may  take  your  own  methods  of  producing  them.  I 
shall  not  complain  of  your  methods  if  the  right  results 
come.  I  shall  always  be  glad  to  give  you  advice,  but  — 
one  thing  more.  If  you  adopt  your  own  course  and 
methods,  you  may  fail;  if  you  try  to  copy  mine,  you 


INSTRUCTION  75 

certainly  will.  In  teaching,  no  one  can  copy  another; 
he  must  be  himself."  *  Most  good  teachers  in  the  sec- 
ondary schools  make  the  greater  part  of  the  exercise  a 
sort  of  daily  examination,  to  find  out  what  progress 
the  pupil  has  made  in  the  tasks  assigned  him,  requiring 
him  to  tell  as  concisely  as  possible  what  he  knows  about 
the  subject,  and  then  leading  him  on  by  judicious 
questions.  It  is  a  great  gift  to  be  able  to  put  definite 
questions  in  such  a  way  that  the  boy  himself  discovers 
what  you  wish  him  to  know,  and  to  be  able  to  lead  a 
class  on  by  a  line  of  questions  and  answers  till  the 
subject  under  treatment  has  been  clearly  presented  and 
understood. 

Some  of  the  best  teachers  in  the  secondary  schools 
have  been  very  expert  drill  masters.  I  have  always 
been  thankful  for  the  kind  of  drill  received  in  my 
first  term  at  Andover.  We  were  required  to  learn  the 
paradigms  in  Weld's  Latin  Lessons  and  to  be  ready 
to  give  them  at  each  exercise  in  their  exact  order, 
without  question  or  suggestion  on  the  part  of  the 
teacher,  and  without  hesitation,  from  the  beginning  of 
the  book  up  to  the  end  of  the  lesson  for  that  day.  If, 
when  called  up,  a  boy  did  not  know  where  to  begin,  or 
if  when  reciting  he  forgot  the  order,  he  went  down  im- 
mediately as  another  was  called  up  in  his  place.  This 
was  a  study  of  the  book  perhaps  more  than  a  study  of 
the  subject,  but  it  required  thorough  mastery  of  the 
subject,  and  the  closest  attention  on  the  part  of  every 

i  Dimmick,  Memorial  of  Francis  Gardner,  LL.D.,  pp.  39  and  4-0. 
(Printed  for  the  Boston  School  Association,  1876.) 


76         THE    YOUNG    MAN    AND    TEACHING 

one  in  the  division.  I  have  never  taught  a  class  of 
beginners  in  that  way,  and  no  teacher  would  do  so 
now,  but  in  my  preparation  for  college  I  never  spent  a 
more  profitable  term.  The  exercise  aroused  interest 
because  of  its  difficulty  and  because  the  young  students 
were  eager  to  do  well.  The  drill  increased  my  power 
of  concentration,  taught  me  to  be  systematic,  strength- 
ened my  memory,  gave  me  confidence  in  my  ability  to 
learn  anything  required  of  me,  and  fixed  the  forms 
in  my  mind  so  that  I  never  afterwards  needed  to  refer 
to  the  grammar  for  them.  There  are  things  that  are 
fundamental,  which  must  be  learned  by  heart,  and  the 
most  economical  way  is  to  get  them  at  the  outset  so 
thoroughly  that  they  will  never  need  to  be  learned 
again. 

To  put  the  student  into  the  right  attitude  toward 
his  recitation,  the  exercise  should  begin  exactly  at  the 
appointed  time,  should  move  on  quietly  but  rapidly, 
and  should  close  promptly  at  the  end  of  the  recitation 
period.  If  the  teacher  is  anxious  to  shorten  the  exer- 
cise, the  boys  will  hurriedly  slight  their  work.  If  he 
holds  them  beyond  the  hour,  they  will  be  wearied  by 
the  delay.  If  possible,  every  boy  should  be  given  a 
chance  to  recite  at  every  exercise.  If  a  student  is 
called  up  every  other  day,  he  will  be  strongly  tempted 
to  make  careful  preparation  only  on  every  other  lesson, 
and  may  soon  lose  his  interest.  Whatever  may  be  the 
case  with  students  much  further  along  in  their  educa- 
tion, the  boy  at  the  age  when  he  enters  the  preparatory 
school,  if  he  has  something  to  do,  likes  to  have  a  chance 


INSTRUCTION  77 

to  show  that  he  has  done  it,  and  done  it  well.  He  also 
takes  readily  to  hard  work;  to  a  certain  degree,  the 
harder  the  task,  the  more  interesting  it  is  to  him.  He 
will  spend  a  long  time  on  a  difficult  puzzle,  but  has  little 
real  pleasure  in  a  thing  so  easy  that  any  one  can  do 
it.  It  is  when  he  gets  older  and  has  been  unfavorably 
impressed  by  bad  companions,  and  knows  too  much 
about  the  ways  of  the  world,  that  he  is  inclined  to  grow 
lazy  and  shiftless. 

That  man  ought  not  to  be  a  teacher  who  looks  upon 
a  recitation  as  a  trifling  affair  which  he  can  get 
through  some  way,  whether  he  has  made  any  prepara- 
tion for  it  or  not.  A  recitation  is  an  important  event. 
Before  it  begins,  the  instructor  should  have  a  definite 
plan  of  what  he  expects  to  do  during  the  hour  and  of 
the  way  in  which  it  is  to  be  done.  The  best  teachers 
make  careful  preparation  for  each  lesson,  and  come 
to  the  classroom  with  a  clear  idea  of  the  explanations 
to  be  given  and  the  questions  to  be  asked. 

To  avoid  too  much  formality  in  the  classroom  and 
relieve  the  student  from  unnecessary  embarrassment, 
many  teachers  now  prefer  to  allow  their  pupils  to  recite 
without  rising.  But  every  boy  ought  to  be  able  to  ex- 
press himself  on  his  feet  in  the  presence  of  others,  with 
nothing  to  lean  upon,  and  nothing  before  him  to  con- 
ceal an  awkward  position.  Cyrus  Northrop,  when  a 
professor  at  Yale,  treated  a  recitation  as  an  exercise 
in  public  speaking.  Many  of  his  former  students  will 
recall  such  expressions  as :  "  Take  your  hands  out  of 
your  pockets.     Is  that  the  proper  position  in  which  to 


78  THE    YOUNG    MAN    AND    TEACHING 

stand  when  addressing  an  audience? "  Dr.  Arnold 
showed  his  appreciation  of  a  good  recitation  by  saying 
to  the  boy  who  had  done  well,  "  Thank  you."  He  had 
no  compliments  for  the  boy  who  failed,  but  told  him 
in  stern  tones,  "  Sit  down."  Dr.  Taylor  was  sharp 
and  abrupt ;  his  questions  followed  one  another  in  quick 
succession.  He  never  waited  for  a  careless  student  to 
find  the  place,  and  gave  the  unprepared  student  no 
time  to  guess  at  an  answer.  If  the  student  made  a 
good  recitation,  the  Doctor  indicated  his  satisfaction 
by  a  pleased  look  and  a  simple  nod  of  the  head,  but 
he  abruptly  stopped  the  boy  who  was  making  a  poor 
recitation,  with  a  deep  and  severe-toned  "  Sufficient." 
Professor  Loomis  wasted  no  words  and  allowed  his  stu- 
dents to  waste  none ;  with  him  it  was  a  quick  "  No  " 
to  the  man  who  was  wrong,  or  "  That  will  do  "  or 
"  Very  well  "  if  he  was  right.  If  he  wished  to  be  help- 
ful to  one  who  was  doing  fairly  well,  but  not  well 
enough  to  satisfy  him,  it  was  "  More  exact  "  or  "  Why 
so?" 

Dr.  Taylor  was  a  teacher  of  Greek  and  Latin  and 
limited  his  instruction  to  the  senior  class.  In  his  book, 
Method  of  Classical  Study,  he  gives  his  view  of 
the  work  that  ought  to  be  done  in  the  early  years  in 
the  study  of  Greek  and  Latin : 

M  No  point  that  pertains  to  the  fullest  acquaintance  with 
a  word,  or  sentence,  or  the  subject  in  general,  should  be 
neglected,  so  far  as  the  advancement  of  the  student  has 
qualified  him  to  investigate  and  understand  it.  The  laws 
by  which  words  have  this  or  that  form,  why  they  drop  a 


INSTRUCTION  79 

letter  here  and  assume  one  there,  or  change  one  elsewhere; 
what  part  is  radical  and  what  accessory ;  is  the  word  regular 
or  irregular  in  its  formation ;  has  it  its  primary  or  secondary 
sense,  and  the  connection  between  the  one  and  the  other; 
is  it  simple  or  compound,  primitive  or  derivative;  its  rela- 
tion to  other  words, —  what  it  modifies  and  what  modifies 
it ;  and  the  sentence, —  is  it  independent  or  dependent,  sub- 
stantive, adjective,  or  adverbial;  is  its  position,  natural  or 
inverted;  the  difference  between  the  several  declensions 
and  conjugations;  why  this  mode  and  tense  rather  than 
another;  all  the  laws  of  construction;  the  circumstances 
under  which  the  treatise  was  written;  the  comparison  of 
Latin  with  Greek  idioms,  and  these  with  the  English;  the 
synonyms,  history,  biography,  geography,  mythology;  the 
logic,  rhetoric,  poetry,  oratory, —  all  these,  with  many  other 
subjects,  are  to  be  made,  at  the  proper  stage,  matters  of 
careful  study."  * 

He  illustrated  his  method  by  a  series  of  questions  on 
the  first  few  lines  of  each  of  the  Greek  and  Latin  au- 
thors usually  read  in  the  preparatory  school.  The 
questions  were  designed  to  include  almost  every  point 
that  could  be  suggested  by  anything  in  these  lines. 
In  introducing  a  class  to  the  Mneid  of  Vergil,  after 
about  fifty  questions  on  the  author  and  his  subject, 
he  gives  between  thirty  and  forty  on  the  first  line  of 
the  first  Book,  and  on  the  first  thirty-three  lines  of 
the  poem  the  questions  extend  over  about  thirty  pages. 
Dr.  Taylor  says :  "  Such  a  method  is  slow  at  first ;  but 
it  gives  habits  of  close  observation  and  analysis,  power 
to   reason,   and   a   definite  knowledge   of   fundamental 

i  Taylor,  Method  of  Classical  Study,  Boston,  1861,  pp.  iv  and  v. 


BO  THE    YOUNG    MAN    AND    TEACHING 

principles,  which  in  the  end  will  make  the  progress 
more  rapid,  and  give  a  better  preparation  for  other 
courses  of  study."  This  proved  to  be  true  of  his 
students.  For  many  years  they  had  the  reputation 
of  entering  different  colleges  with  a  remarkable  prepa- 
ration in  Greek  and  Latin.  In  his  time  a  large  part  of 
the  work  done  in  college  was  in  these  two  languages. 
Probably  no  teacher  did  more  than  Dr.  Taylor  to 
improve  the  method  of  teaching  the  classics  in  Ameri- 
can secondary  schools,  but  it  would  not  be  wise  for  a 
modern  teacher  to  try  to  imitate  him.  No  teacher  in 
a  preparatory  school  would  now  feel  justified  in  spend- 
ing so  much  time  on  the  first  few  lines  of  a  new  author, 
or  in  asking  so  many  questions  not  really  necessary  to  a 
good  understanding  of  the  meaning  of  the  passage 
under  consideration.  If  Dr.  Taylor  had  lived  a  few 
years  longer,  it  is  quite  possible  that  he  would  have 
been  influenced  by  the  spirit  of  the  age  to  modify  his 
method  of  teaching.  But  he  taught  his  students  how 
to  do  one  kind  of  work  thoroughly,  convinced  that 
they  would  do  any  subsequent  work  thoroughly  as  a 
result  of  this  training,  and  the  majority  of  them  felt 
profoundly  grateful  to  him  in  later  years  for  the  ex- 
treme thoroughness  of  his  instruction. 

The  treatment  which  a  boy  should  receive  in  recita- 
tion depends  largely  on  his  attitude  toward  study. 
The  backward  lad  who  studies  faithfully  should  receive 
encouragement,  though  the  result  of  his  work  be  small. 
All  teachers  are  familiar  with  the  type  of  boy  whose 
aim  is  to  do  the  least  which  will  be  accepted,  and  who 


INSTRUCTION  81 

thinks  it  a  waste  of  time  to  get  a  standing  of  51  when 
50  is  enough  to  pass  him.  We  need  to  distinguish 
clearly  between  laziness  and  dullness.  No  expression 
of  disapproval  can  be  too  strong  for  the  boy  who  is 
lazy  and  will  not  study,  and  no  condemnation  is  justi- 
fiable in  the  case  of  the  dull  boy  who  accomplishes  little 
but  does  as  well  as  he  can.  Judicious  praise  for  earn- 
est effort,  given  privately  to  a  backward  boy,  is  a  better 
remedy  for  dullness  than  the  harsh  public  criticism  and 
sarcasm  which  it  often  receives.  Many  teachers  have 
the  feeling  that  their  chief  business  is  to  find  mistakes 
in  a  student's  exercise,  and  that  it  will  make  him  con- 
ceited to  commend  him  for  doing  well.  They  therefore 
receive  his  well-written  papers  with  an  air  of  coldness 
and  reserve  and  with  no  sign  of  appreciation.  Words 
of  commendation  for  an  exercise  well  done  would  make 
him  wish  to  do  all  his  work  well. 

The  granting  of  special  privileges  as  a  reward  for 
good  scholarship  or  conduct  is  generally  much  appreci- 
ated by  the  pupils.  But  when  such  privilege  is  a  re- 
lease from  intellectual  requirements,  sometimes  those 
to  whom  it  is  allowed  are  relieved  from  exercises  which 
it  would  have  been  good  for  them  to  take.  When 
students  who  reach  a  certain  rank  in  their  daily  ex- 
ercises are  excused  from  the  regular  term  examinations, 
they  are  satisfied  to  get  the  required  standing  in  each 
exercise,  and  as  a  rule  never  look  at  the  lesson  again. 
They  lose  the  advantage  of  the  review,  and  also  valu- 
able practice  in  expressing  their  thoughts  in  writing 
in  circumstances  where  they  have  to  think  quickly  and 


«2         THE    YOUNG    MAN    AND    TEACHING 

write  rapidly  and  accurately.  Later,  when  they  are  in 
college  or  in  the  professional  school,  where  such  tests 
are  required,  or  when  in  their  profession  they  have  to 
prepare  a  paper,  or  a  report,  or  an  address  that  must 
be  completed  within  a  brief  time,  they  may  find  them- 
selves at  a  disadvantage  in  consequence  of  the  lack  of 
practice  in  an  exercise  from  which  they  were  regularly 
excused  by  their  early  teachers  as  a  reward  for  good 
scholarship. 

It  is  natural  for  boys  to  wish  to  measure  themselves 
with  one  another  in  any  exercise,  physical  or  mental, 
and  the  teacher  who  knows  how  to  encourage  a  spirit 
of  competition  without  unfriendly  rivalry  will  get  more 
work  out  of  his  classes.  Competition  between  divisions 
in  a  class  reaches  all  its  members,  and  is  much  better 
than  that  between  individuals,  because  the  lowest  in 
scholarship  as  well  as  the  highest  are  spurred  on  to  do 
their  best,  in  order  to  gain  a  creditable  average  stand- 
ing for  the  division.  There  is  objection  to  competition 
for  large  prizes  where  the  success  of  one  boy  means  the 
failure  and  disappointment  of  others.  To  be  sure,  the 
prizes  of  later  life  are  of  that  kind.  Only  a  few  win 
them,  while  the  large  majority  fail,  and  there  is  a  great 
deal  to  be  said  about  the  advantages  to  be  derived  from 
the  lesson  of  disappointment.  Defeat,  if  it  does  not 
bring  discouragement,  is  a  strong  stimulus  to  hard 
work,  is  a  valuable  experience  for  the  development  of 
character,  and  is  a  necessary  preparation  for  what  a 
man  must  be  willing  to  accept  in  life.  It  is  a  real 
misfortune  when  a  young  man  is  to  such  a  degree  sue- 


INSTRUCTION  83 

cessful  that  he  becomes  entirely  satisfied  with  what  he 
has  done.  That  is  one  reason  why  so  many  who  have 
done  excellent  work  in  college  do  not  have  a  correspond- 
ing success  in  after-life.  But  when  two  or  more  class- 
mates strive  for  the  same  prize,  which  only  one  of  them 
can  win,  there  is  a  personal  element  about  it  which 
it  is  better  to  avoid.  It  is  not  easy  to  keep  down  the 
hope  that  one's  rival  may  do  poorly.  What  begins  as 
friendly  rivalry  may  easily  grow  into  jealousy  and 
hatred,  destroying  the  pleasant  relations  between  class- 
mates and  lasting  long  after  school-days  are  over. 

Many  of  the  ordinary  prize  contests  are  open  to 
criticism  also  on  account  of  the  uncertainty  of  reaching 
a  fair  decision.  In  an  athletic  contest  it  is  easy  to 
decide  when  one  contestant  or  one  team  is  superior. 
There  are  fixed  rules  for  the  game  and  the  spectators 
can  tell  as  well  as  the  judge  which  side  has  won.  But 
when  it  comes  to  a  prize  in  English  composition,  the 
excellencies  and  deficiencies  of  the  work  of  the  different 
competitors  are  so  very  unlike  that  it  is  difficult  to  make 
a  satisfactory  comparison,  and  in  some  cases  the  judges 
themselves  do  not  feel  sure  that  they  are  rendering  a 
perfectly  just  decision.  In  a  contest  in  public  speak- 
ing, the  decision  often  does  not  commend  itself  to  the 
judgment  of  the  majority  of  the  audience.  With  an- 
other set  of  judges,  whose  views  regarding  the  subject 
under  discussion  were  different,  the  decision  would  prob- 
ably not  have  been  the  same.  In  some  oratorical  con- 
tests the  judges  have  been  so  evenly  divided  that  a  de- 
cision between  the  two  best  competitors  has  been  made 


84         THE    YOUNG    MAN    AND    TEACHING 

by  lot.  When  one  has  done  his  best  to  prepare  for  a 
competition  on  the  decision  of  which  much  may  depend, 
it  seems  hard  that  he  should  be  defeated  by  a  game  of 
chance. 

The  best  kind  of  award  is  one  where  the  number  of 
prizes  is  not  limited,  where  all  can  share  who  have  come 
up  to  a  certain  standard,  and  where  the  main  purpose 
is  not  to  defeat  somebody,  but  to  do  well.  Then  every 
one  whose  work  deserves  it  can  win,  and  there  is  no 
injustice.  The  man  who  loses  knows  that  his  work 
was  inferior.  It  is  no  great  consolation  to  a  defeated 
man  to  tell  him  that  his  effort  would  have  won  the  prize 
in  any  of  the  preceding  five  years  ;  somehow,  that  makes 
the  injustice  seem  so  much  the  greater. 

Neither  pupils  nor  teacher  can  safely  practice  the 
art  of  bluffing.  If  the  pupil  pretends  to  understand  a 
subject  when  he  does  not,  he  loses  the  opportunity  of 
getting  from  his  teacher  the  instruction  in  it  which  he 
needs.  It  is  in  every  way  better  for  both  parties  to  be 
always  frank,  never  trying  to  conceal  ignorance.  One 
of  my  college  friends  who  took  a  school  for  a  term  or 
two  after  graduation  was  called  upon  to  teach  some 
subjects  which  he  had  never  studied,  and  some  with 
which  he  had  long  been  unfamiliar.  When,  as  occa- 
sionally happened,  his  pupils  came  to  him  with  a  ques- 
tion which  he  could  not  answer,  his  uniform  reply  was : 
"  It  will  be  far  better  for  you  to  get  that  out  yourselves 
than  to  have  me  tell  you.  Keep  on  working  at  it,  and 
if  none  of  you  can  get  the  answer,  ask  me  to-morrow 
and  I  will  help  you."     Then,  after  an  evening  spent  in 


INSTRUCTION  85 

desperate  search  for  help,  or,  failing  in  that,  in  hard 
study,  he  was  primed  for  the  question  the  next  day. 
There  could  be  no  sounder  doctrine  than  this,  as  far 
as  it  applied  to  the  efforts  of  the  pupils,  but  it  was 
bad  policy  for  the  teacher  because  he  was  practicing 
deception  on  them,  which  they  were  sure,  sooner  or 
later,  to  find  out  and  so  lose  confidence  in  his  ability 
and  honesty.  I  remember  with  great  respect  and  ad- 
miration a  young  college  instructor  who,  on  several  oc- 
casions, when  hard  questions  were  presented  to  him, 
told  us  frankly  that  he  did  not  know,  but  would  make 
further  study  of  the  subject;  and  every  student  in  the 
class  thought  more  highly  of  him  for  his  frankness  and 
sincerity. 

A  careful  teacher  may  secretly  hope  that  if  he  ever 
carelessly  makes  a  mistake  in  the  presence  of  his  class, 
it  will  escape  notice.  But  the  probability  is  that,  when- 
ever such  ill-luck  befalls  him,  some  bright  lad  will  de- 
tect his  errors  and  bring  them  to  his  attention  before  he 
himself  suspects  them.  It  is  sometimes  hard  for  the 
man,  who  is  supposed  to  know  everything  about  his  sub- 
ject, to  admit  that  he  has  been  wrong,  and  he  may 
defend  himself  by  trying  to  show  that,  looked  at  in  a 
certain  way,  his  statement  was  correct.  Most  students 
can  recall  teachers  who  usually  took  this  stand.  One 
need  not  hesitate  to  own  up  to  his  mistakes  and  cor- 
rect them.  Your  aim  is  accuracy  in  scholarship,  but 
if  on  any  point  there  is  question  whether  you  were  ac- 
curate, it  weakens  your  influence  to  try  to  prove  that 
you  were,  while  by  publicly  acknowledging  a  mistake 


86         THE    YOUNG    MAN    AND    TEACHING 

and  calling  special  attention  to  it  you  show  that  your 
purpose  is  to  have  the  class  learn  only  what  is  true. 
The  wisest  teachers  do  not  pretend  to  be  infallible. 
Error  and  forgetfulness  are  human.  Rev.  John  Barn- 
ard, in  his  autobiography,  gives  a  charming  illustration 
of  the  manner  of  Ezekiel  Cheever,  showing  both  the 
severity  and  the  gentleness  of  that  great  teacher: 

"  I  remember  once  in  making  a  piece  of  Latin  my  master 
found  fault  with  the  syntax  of  one  word,  which  was  not  so 
used  by  me  heedlessly,  but  designedly,  and  therefore  I  told 
him  there  was  a  plain  grammar  rule  for  it.  He  angrily 
replied,  *  There  is  no  such  rule.'  I  took  the  grammar 
and  showed  the  rule  to  him.  Then  he  smilingly  said: 
'  Thou  art  a  brave  boy.  I  had  forgot  it/  And  no  wonder, 
for  he  was  then  above  eighty  years  old."  * 

i  Collections  of  the  Massachusetts  Historical  Society,  Third 
Series,  Vol.  V,  p.  180. 


CHAPTER  VI 


GOVERNMENT 


Every  unsatisfactory  boy  a  problem  to  be  solved.  Learning 
how  to  govern  by  practice.  Five  points  to  keep  in  mind.  The 
young  teacher  sixty  years  ago  and  the  young  teacher  to-day. 
Experience  of  Dr.  DeForest.  Getting  the  support  of  the  leading 
boys.  Notice  not  to  be  taken  of  every  misdemeanor.  Methods 
of  a  detective  not  to  be  employed,  and  one  student  not  to  be 
asked  to  testify  to  the  faculty  against  another.  A  teacher's  in- 
fluence on  the  manners  of  his  pupils.  Personal  influence  of  the 
supervisor  of  a  school  dormitory.  The  teacher  a  friend  and  coun- 
selor. Must  keep  his  dignity,  and  must  not  engage  with  his 
students  in  contests  in  which  he  is  inferior.  Must  believe  in  his 
boys  and  must  know  all  he  can  about  them.  Best  kind  of  treat- 
ment often  that  of  which  the  boy  has  felt  the  want  in  his  early 
life.  Help  in  dealing  with  a  new  class  obtained  from  previous 
teachers.  A  few  examples.  Advantages  of  a  teacher's  reputation 
for  good  order. 

The  more  thoroughly  you  understand  boys,  the  more 
interesting  they  are  likely  to  become  to  you  and  the 
greater  your  delight  in  teaching  them.  You  will  find 
the  larger  part  responsive  and  ready  to  do  cheerfully 
what  you  advise  and  require.  For  these  your  principal 
thought  will  be  to  give  the  kind  of  instruction  which 
they  need.  But  in  almost  every  class  of  respectable 
size,  boys  will  be  found  that  call  for  something  more 
than  instruction  in  their  studies.  There  will  be  per- 
haps those  who  are  coarse  and  disagreeable,  without 

87 


88  THE    YOUNG    MAN    AND    TEACHING 

being  morally  bad;  some  not  vicious,  who  take  delight 
in  little  tricks  too  small  to  notice,  but  annoying;  and 
some  whose  conduct  is  characterized  by  downright 
meanness  and  vulgarity.  Every  boy  of  an  unsatisfac- 
tory sort  presents  a  separate  problem  for  his  teacher 
to  solve,  and  it  is  one  from  which  the  teacher  must  not 
shrink ;  here  is  something  worth  striving  for.  You  may 
confidently  hope  to  see  many  of  the  unpromising  boys 
become  obedient,  manly  and  brave,  even  if  you  cannot 
arouse  in  them  such  high  ideals  of  character  and  at- 
tainment as  you  desire.  A  wayward  and  self-willed 
boy  saved  from  his  evil  tendencies  often  makes  a  strong 
and  earnest  man,  and  there  is  greater  satisfaction  in 
helping  a  weak  boy  to  conquer  himself  and  set  out  on  the 
upward  path  than  there  is  in  giving  instruction  to  those 
who  have  no  need  of  correction.  In  the  latter  case  you 
will  have  a  share  in  the  development  of  young  men 
already  good;  in  the  former  you  may  have  the  joy  of 
saving  a  youth  who  without  your  help  would  have  been 
lost  to  himself  and  perhaps  a  curse  to  the  state.  The 
business  of  the  schools  is  to  take  boys  as  they  are  and 
so  educate  them  that  they  will  turn  out  good  men.  If 
a  boy's  propensities  are  bad,  influences  must  be  brought 
to  bear  on  him  which  will  help  to  give  him  a  right 
view  of  life,  its  opportunities  and  responsibilities.  In 
some  cases  there  is  need  of  more  love  and  sympathy 
and  appreciation;  in  others,  of  a  firmer  and  stronger 
hand. 

A  teacher  cannot  expect  to  know  all  that  is  neces- 
sary about  the  government  of  a  room  till  he  has  had 


GOVERNMENT  89 

some  practice.  This  thought  will  encourage  him  when 
he  fears  that  he  is  making  a  failure.  Much  help  can 
be  gained  from  good  books  and  from  other  teachers, 
but  successful  experience  is  needed  to  give  him  con- 
fidence in  himself.  Until  he  has  had  experience  in 
government,  it  is  advisable  to  avoid  extremes.  Laxity 
will  never  succeed,  and  extreme  severity  will  generally 
prove  a  dangerous  venture.  In  my  judgment,  it  is 
better  to  begin  with  a  reasonable  degree  of  mildness, 
and  then  if  necessary  gradually  tighten  up.  Some  ad- 
vise the  opposite.  It  depends,  of  course,  somewhat  on 
the  characteristics  of  the  teacher  and  on  the  condition 
of  the  school.  But  a  class  will  not  have  a  good  opinion 
of  a  teacher  who  starts  in  with  a  great  display  of 
rigorous  discipline  and  then  backs  down.  It  will  be 
helpful  in  the  beginning  to  keep  constantly  in  mind  five 
points : 

(1)  The  chief  object  of  school  government  is  not  to 
succeed  in  punishing  every  offender,  but  to  train  the 
pupils  to  a  right  view  of  life,  so  that  they  will  give  up 
mean  and  foolish  offenses  because  they  are  unmanly 
and  wrong,  and  not  from  fear  of  punishment. 

(£)  Certain  things  must  be  insisted  on:  prompt 
obedience,  respect  for  authority,  honesty,  truthfulness, 
accuracy,  punctuality,  good  manners,  neatness;  and 
there  must  be  no  compromise  with  evil  in  any  form. 

(3)  Students  will  respect  and  cheerfully  obey  the 
teacher  whose  fairness  and  justice  are  never  ques- 
tioned. 

(4*)  It  is  better  to  keep  a  boy  from  doing  wrong 


90  THE    YOUNG    MAN    AND    TEACHING 

than  to  punish  him  for  having  done  wrong;  better  to 
gain  obedience  by  considerate  treatment  than  by  force. 

(5)  To  govern  a  schoolroom  or  building  requires 
great  patience  and  self-control.  Many  of  the  difficul- 
ties of  administration  would  disappear  if  the  teacher 
or  principal  always  allowed  himself  time  for  reflection 
before  giving  expression  to  his  feelings  in  words  or  ac- 
tions. The  man  who  can  always  be  depended  upon  to 
control  himself  is  not  in  danger  of  losing  the  control  of 
his  class  or  school. 

When  I  began  to  teach,  no  directions  were  given  me 
regarding  the  subjects  to  be  taught,  and  no  advice 
about  the  organization  and  management  of  the  school. 
In  teaching  I  followed  tradition,  and  in  discipline  I 
relied  on  my  own  judgment.  A  schoolmaster  in  those 
days  could  manage  his  classes  much  as  he  pleased,  as 
long  as  the  order  was  satisfactory. 

The  young  teacher  at  the  present  day  usually  begins 
in  a  school  which  is  already  well  organized.  He  is 
told  what  he  is  expected  to  teach.  He  can  go  freely 
for  advice  to  his  principal,  or  to  the  head  of  his 
department.  In  matters  of  order  and  discipline  he  fol- 
lows the  established  regulations  of  the  school,  and  be- 
hind him  is  the  whole  authority  of  the  institution,  with 
all  its  ideals  and  traditions  and  its  power  to  enforce 
its  rules.  With  so  much  support  on  every  side  he  can 
hardly  realize  what  it  was  to  begin  when  the  school- 
master had  to  stand  alone,  unadvised  and  unsupported, 
doing  as  well  as  he  knew  how,  but  still  doubtful  as  to 
the  wisdom  or  justice  of  some  of  his  acts,  and  some- 


GOVERNMENT  91 

times  anxiously  expecting  to  meet  on  his  way  home  at 
night  the  father  of  some  boy  whom  he  had  disciplined 
during  the  day.  With  his  duties  marked  out  for  him, 
and  the  school  administration  to  support  him,  it  seems 
easy  now  for  a  teacher  to  keep  control  of  his  room. 
But  many  teachers  prove  incompetent,  and  the  most  of 
these  prove  so  because  they  fail  in  government.  It  is 
still  as  important  as  it  ever  was  that  the  teacher  have 
the  power  to  keep  his  students  under  strict  control. 
Though  he  is  in  a  strong  position  when  he  has  the 
authority  of  the  school  at  his  back,  he  must  not  de- 
pend on  that  alone,  but  should  have  resources  of  his 
own. 

Dr.  DeForest,  the  well-known  missionary  to  Japan, 
when  a  lad  of  sixteen,  taught  a  term  of  school  in  a 
Connecticut  town.  When  he  reached  the  place  on  the 
evening  before  his  first  schoolday,  he  was  not  greatly 
encouraged  at  the  prospect.  He  learned  that  the  big 
boys  had  made  a  practice  of  carrying  his  predecessors 
out  of  the  schoolhouse  and  ducking  them  in  the  snow, 
and  that  they  were  planning  to  open  the  school  the 
next  morning  by  putting  him  out.  He  went  early  to 
his  task,  much  perplexed,  for  he  knew  that  any  one 
of  the  young  giants  would  be  more  than  a  match  for 
him.  As  he  sat  alone  at  his  desk  wondering  what  would 
be  the  outcome,  a  boy  that  he  thought  must  be  the 
biggest  one  of  the  gang  came  in,  noisily  threw  down  a 
few  books  upon  a  desk,  and  began  to  brush  away  the 
snow  from  his  coat.  DeForest  saw  his  chance.  Here 
was  probably  the  youth  who  had  planned  the  whole 


92  THE    YOUNG    MAN    AND    TEACHING 

campaign.  He  addressed  the  boy  in  a  polite  way, 
talked  with  him  familiarly  on  matters  of  common  in- 
terest as  he  would  with  any  companion,  and  showed 
him  by  his  courteous  treatment  that  he  thought  him 
a  good  fellow  and  a  gentleman.  He  won  the  boy's 
respect  and  support.  The  teacher  had  taken  him  for 
a  gentleman,  and  he  would  be  one.  When  DeForest, 
in  his  pleasant  manner,  said  to  him,  "  Jim,  do  you 
know,  they  say  the  fellows  are  going  to  put  me  out  ?  " 
Jim  straightened  up  with  much  pride  and  made  answer, 
"  Well,  if  they  do,  they  will  have  to  walk  over  my  dead 
body."  The  young  teacher  settled  the  whole  question 
of  order  for  the  term  by  getting  that  boy  on  his  side. 
In  a  general  way,  that  is  what  every  teacher  would 
like  to  do.  He  needs  the  support  of  those  who  are 
leaders ;  by  leaders,  I  have  in  mind  not  merely  the  good 
students  and  the  older  and  more  influential  boys.  He 
must  have  their  support,  and  cannot  succeed  without  it. 
But  he  needs  also  to  get  on  his  side  those  who,  full  of 
life  and  fun,  are  capable  of  being  leaders  in  mischief. 
It  is  not  difficult  to  get  the  good-will  of  these  if  the 
teacher  tactfully  shows  confidence  in  them  and  assumes 
that  they  are  in  favor  of  order  and  ready  to  aid  him 
in  maintaining  it.  If  you  suspect  that  a  boy  of  in- 
fluence is  likely  to  become  a  leader  in  any  particular 
disorder,  it  is  not  a  bad  plan  to  talk  matters  over  with 
him  in  a  judicious  way  and  give  him  the  responsibility 
of  preventing  it.  He  will  be  pleased  to  discover  that 
you  have  confidence  in  his  good  intentions,  and  also  con- 
fidence in  his  ability  to  accomplish  what  you  desire  him 


GOVERNMENT  93 

to  do.  You  can  sometimes  save  a  boy  whose  propen- 
sities seem  wholly  evil  by  getting  him  interested  in  doing 
something  for  the  welfare  of  the  school.  Every  head- 
master, following  in  the  footsteps  of  Dr.  Arnold,  ap- 
preciates the  influence  of  the  senior  class  over  the  boys 
in  the  lower  classes,  and  uses  all  proper  means  to  secure 
their  cooperation.  The  seniors  set  the  standard  of 
conduct  in  the  recitation  room  and  on  the  athletic  field. 
What  they  say  is  accepted  as  sound  and  right  by  the 
school.  They  can  reach  and  influence  the  younger 
boys  where  the  faculty  cannot.  The  senior  class  pre- 
serves old  customs  and  starts  new  ones  and  gathers 
them  into  traditions.  The  spirit  of  the  institution  is 
what  they  make  it.  When  the  faculty  secure  the 
hearty  cooperation  of  the  senior  class,  the  little  com- 
munity becomes  in  a  large  degree  self-governing,  and 
not  only  are  the  relations  between  faculty  and  students 
more  cordial,  but  the  general  order  is  far  better.  The 
responsibility  thus  given  to  the  highest  class  greatly 
increases  their  attachment  to  the  school.  They  go 
away  at  the  end  of  senior  year  proud  to  be  numbered 
among  its  graduates  and  determined  to  do  what  they 
can  to  show  their  loyalty. 

The  author  of  Tom  Brown's  School  Days  says  of 
Dr.  Arnold :  "  He  knows  better  than  any  one  else  when 
to  look  and  when  to  see  nothing."  A  teacher  with 
good  eyes  may  hope  to  see  about  everything  that  goes 
on  in  his  room.  It  is  well  for  the  pupils  to  believe  that 
he  can  do  this,  but  it  is  not  wise  for  him  to  take  notice 
of  every  act  to  which  it  is  possible  to  object.     Many 


94  THE    YOUNG    MAN    AND    TEACHING 

things  will  occur  that  you  dislike.  The  most  of  them 
will  be  in  themselves  too  small  to  notice.  Some  of  them 
will  be  done  on  the  sly,  from  bad  motives.  When  you 
catch  a  culprit  in  the  act,  you  will  have  a  good  oppor- 
tunity to  settle  up  with  him  in  a  private  interview. 
Perhaps  you  can  get  his  assistance  in  suppressing  the 
disorder,  as  suggested  in  the  preceding  section.  But 
as  long  as  he  remains  undiscovered,  do  not  let  him  think 
he  is  causing  you  any  uneasiness.  There  are  many 
ways  in  which  a  mischievous  boy  can  create  disturbance 
in  school  without  getting  found  out.  He  plays  his 
tricks  mostly  for  the  purpose  of  disturbing  the  teacher, 
and  his  delight  is  in  the  successful  result;  when  he 
discovers  that  his  petty  meannesses  do  not  annoy  any- 
body, the  chief  motive  for  them  is  gone  and  he  decides 
that  he  does  not  get  pay  for  his  trouble.  One  way  to 
make  a  room  disorderly  is  to  show  your  pupils  that  you 
are  suspicious  of  their  motives  and  are  constantly  on 
the  watch  for  a  disturbance.  They  will  probably  see 
to  it  that  you  are  not  disappointed.  The  teacher  who 
is  always  looking  for  disorder  will  have  little  time  for 
instruction,  and  cannot  be  in  a  state  of  mind  to  arouse 
interest  in  his  subject.  The  best  way  is  to  assume 
right  intentions  on  the  part  of  your  pupils  and  treat 
them  accordingly.  With  very  few  exceptions,  their 
conduct  will  be  good  if  they  understand  that  this  is 
what  you  expect  of  them. 

In  the  government  of  a  room  or  of  a  school,  I  would 
not  employ  secret  methods.  The  state  has  to  deal  with 
counterfeiters,    robbers,    incendiaries,   murderers,    and 


GOVERNMENT  95 

criminals  of  all  kinds,  and  feels  justified  in  resorting  to 
spies  and  private  detectives,  and  in  inducing  partners 
in  crime  to  turn  state's  evidence  and  betray  their  ac- 
complices, with  the  hope  of  escaping  punishment  them- 
selves. But  boys  in  the  process  of  education  are  sel- 
dom guilty  of  acts  that  are  criminal,  and  when  they  are 
not,  it  is  unwise  to  treat  them  as  criminals.  I  would 
not,  therefore,  make  any  use  of  the  methods  of  a  detec- 
tive, except  perhaps  to  discover  the  perpetrators  of  an 
offense  which  is  punishable  by  the  laws  of  the  state,  like 
theft.  The  boy  who  habitually  steals  or  commits  any 
other  crime  puts  himself  into  the  criminal  class  and 
forfeits  his  right  to  the  treatment  accorded  to  his 
companions  who  are  honest,  and  it  will  do  him  good  to 
know  this.  When  a  student  breaks  the  laws  of  the  city 
or  state,  he  should  be  dealt  with  in  exactly  the  same 
way  as  any  citizen  would  be  who  is  guilty  of  a  like 
offense. 

Under  no  circumstances  would  I  encourage  one 
student  to  testify  secretly  against  another.  He  would 
feel  mean  if  he  did  it,  and  I  should  feel  meaner  if  I 
allowed  him  to  do  it.  Respect  and  honor  are  given  the 
youth  who  has  the  courage  to  stand  up  in  a  manly  way 
and  say,  "  Do  not  blame  any  one  else ;  I  did  it,"  but 
only  pity  and  contempt  to  him  who  points  out  the 
guilty  boy  behind  his  back  and  says,  "  He  did  it." 
But  when  the  members  of  a  class  or  a  school  assume 
the  responsibility  of  self-government,  as,  for  example, 
in  what  is  known  as  the  Honor  System,  each  one  is 
under  obligation,  when  called  upon,  to  give  openly,  not 


96         THE    YOUNG    MAN    AND    TEACHING 

to  the  faculty  who  have  no  further  responsibility  in  the 
matter,  but  to  the  officers  elected  by  the  school  or  class 
for  that  purpose,  any  evidence  which  he  may  have 
against  a  fellow  student  who  has  broken  the  laws  which 
the  students  themselves  have  made,  or  have  agreed  to  ob- 
serve. Otherwise  there  could  be  no  student  self-gov- 
ernment. By  his  own  courteous  demeanor  the  teacher 
will  exert  a  refining  influence  on  the  manners  of  his 
pupils.  Many  a  young  man  owes  his  good  fortune  in 
securing  a  desirable  place  in  business  to  the  teacher 
who  taught  him  to  be  polite.  In  the  daily  school  rou- 
tine there  is  enough  to  provoke  a  teacher  to  say  things 
that  are  harsh  and  unkind,  that  hurt  the  feelings  of 
those  to  whom  they  are  addressed,  and  bring  regret 
to  the  one  who  has  said  them.  A  sarcastic  speech,  un- 
der the  sudden  impulse  of  some  affront  real  or  imagined, 
will  undo  what  many  days  of  patient  effort  have  ac- 
complished. Pupils  wounded  by  sarcasm  and  ridicule 
lose  respect  for  the  teacher  who  has  insulted  them, 
and  are  often  instigated  to  acts  of  resentment  and  hos- 
tility. True  politeness  is  not  external  polish,  but  is 
the  outward  expression  of  a  kind  heart.  Its  proper 
aim  is  to  contribute  to  the  happiness  of  others,  not  to 
make  a  display  of  one's  own  accomplishments.  Bad 
manners,  like  coarse  jests,  throw  open  the  door  to  a 
man's  inner  life  and  let  people  see  just  what  kind  of  a 
man  he  really  is.  Politeness  is  not  inconsistent  with 
severity  in  discipline.  On  the  contrary,  it  is  what  is 
needed  to  make  strict  discipline  effective.  The  value 
of  a  warning  or  reproof  is  more  than  doubled  when  it 


GOVERNMENT  97 

is  administered  by  a  parent  or  teacher  who  has  a  kind 
consideration  for  the  feelings  of  the  one  who  has  done 
wrong. 

I  have  already  spoken  of  the  unusual  opportunity  for 
personal  influence  open  to  the  master  who  has  the  su- 
pervision of  a  school  dormitory.  If  his  only  purpose  is 
to  have  the  reputation  of  an  orderly  building  without 
much  effort  on  his  part,  he  can  secure  this  end  most 
easily  by  becoming  personally  acquainted  with  all  his 
boys  and  showing  an  interest  in  them.  But  there  are 
masters  to  whom  this  will  not  be  the  chief  purpose,  who 
will  be  willing  to  live  among  the  boys  more  like  older 
brothers,  associating  with  them  as  companions  a  little 
further  along  in  years,  and  letting  their  own  lives  exert 
a  silent  influence  for  good  among  them.  The  best  re- 
sults will  be  obtained  by  quiet  and  unobtrusive  efforts, 
without  giving  too  much  unsought  advice.  Constant 
nagging  is  always  offensive,  and  defeats  its  own  end. 
If  the  master  is  a  man  of  authority,  much  responsibility 
may  be  left  to  the  occupants  of  the  building;  but  here 
as  elsewhere  it  is  to  be  remembered  that  the  boys  are 
under  his  care,  and  that  he  is  master. 

How  often  a  master  should  make  it  his  practice  to 
call  on  the  boys  in  their  rooms,  or  have  them  call  on 
him,  he  must  decide,  unless  the  question  is  already  de- 
cided for  him  by  the  rules  of  the  school.  He  cannot 
afford  to  lose  his  hold  on  any  boy  by  seeming  to  neglect 
him.  On  the  other  hand,  if  his  calls  are  too  frequent 
or  too  long,  a  boy's  chief  thought  may  be,  "  When 
will  he  go  ?  "     Much,  we  might  say  all,  depends  on  the 


98         THE    YOUNG    MAN    AND    TEACHING 

master.  If  he  is  agreeable  and  winning  and  always 
has  something  worth  while  to  tell  them,  his  boys  are 
not  likely  to  see  too  much  of  him,  and  a  brief  call  at 
any  suitable  time  will  not  be  an  unwelcome  interruption. 
All  social  events  are  expected  to  interrupt  work  more 
or  less;  that  is  in  part  their  purpose.  If  he  has  set 
times  when  he  is  accessible  to  all,  as  he  no  doubt  will, 
those  who  need  his  help  most  will  probably  not  come. 
One  or  two  of  the  most  forward  may  consume  his  time, 
without  profit  to  themselves  and  with  loss  to  the  others. 
If  he  asks  some  timid  one  to  come  alone,  the  boy  may 
look  upon  this  as  he  would  upon  a  request  to  remain 
after  recitation  and  come  expecting  some  reproof.  In 
these  closer  relations  each  boy  must  be  dealt  with  as  an 
individual,  and  not  as  part  of  a  machine,  and  the  master 
must  to  a  great  extent  follow  his  judgment,  corrected 
from  time  to  time  by  his  own  experience. 

The  student  now  looks  upon  his  teacher  as  a  friend 
whose  purpose  is  to  advise  and  help  him,  and  not  to 
find  some  ground  for  suspending  him  or  dropping  him 
from  his  class.  In  the  attitude  of  faculty  and  students 
toward  each  other  in  many  schools  and  colleges  fifty 
years  ago  there  were  some  things  to  suggest  two  hostile 
bodies,  each  trying  tq  get  the  better  of  the  other.  At 
one  of  the  early  class  faculty  meetings  which  I  attended 
as  a  tutor,  the  senior  officer  of  the  Freshman  class,  in 
order  to  impress  upon  us  young  officials  the  importance 
of  strictness  in  discipline,  said :  "  No  man  is  fit  to  be  a 
tutor  in  this  college  who  does  not  have  his  windows 
broken."     This  same  senior  officer  impressed  upon  us 


GOVERNMENT  99 

also  that  it  was  important  for  a  tutor's  reputation 
that  he  have  a  large  number  of  men  "  below  average." 
I  remember  with  what  apparent  disgust  he  said  to  one 
tutor  when  we  were  making  up  the  class  standing  for 
the  first  half-term :  "  What !  Have  you  no  man  below 
average?  "  To  have  a  large  number  of  men  below  the 
passing  mark  was  then  thought  to  be  evidence  of  a  high 
standard  on  the  part  of  the  instructor.  Now  it  is  gen- 
erally taken  as  evidence  that  the  instructor  is  a  poor 
teacher. 

The  relation  between  teacher  and  pupils  is  to-day 
quite  different  from  what  it  was  when,  as  Professor 
Denison  Olmsted  expressed  it,  "  the  dignity  of  the  col- 
lege officer  was  measured  by  the  yard,"  referring  to  one 
of  the  old  laws  of  Yale  College,  by  which  undergradu- 
ates were  forbidden  to  wear  their  hats  within  ten  rods 
of  the  President,  eight  rods  of  a  Professor,  and  five  rods 
of  a  Tutor.  The  young  teacher  now  is  expected  to 
treat  his  students  more  as  the  eldest  son  would  treat 
his  younger  brothers,  but  it  is  as  important  as  it  ever 
was  that  he  keep  his  dignity.  He  has  been  appointed 
their  master,  and  as  such  holds  a  position  of  great  re- 
sponsibility. While  his  manner  toward  them  should 
not  be  distant  or  repelling,  too  much  familiarity  is  not 
good  for  him  or  for  them.  The  teacher  who  is  kind- 
hearted,  appreciative  and  affectionate  cannot  help  be- 
coming fond  of  his  pupils,  especially  of  those  who  are 
lovable,  as  most  boys  are,  but  they  are  not  to  be  treated 
as  equals.  They  are  not  his  equals  in  school,  for  he 
has  been  given  authority  over  them,  and  if  he  makes 


100       THE    YOUNG    MAN    AND    TEACHING 

them  companions  out  of  school,  companionship  must 
not  approach  to  that  familiarity  which  breeds  con- 
tempt. It  is  proper  for  him  to  know  as  much  as  pos- 
sible about  those  under  his  charge,  but  it  is  quite  pos- 
sible for  them  to  know  too  much  about  him.  Due  re- 
serve will  insure  their  respect.  He  may  engage  with 
his  pupils  in  any  contest  or  sport  without  loss  of  dig- 
nity, as  long  as  he  does  a  little  better  than  the  best 
of  them.  But  it  is  not  wise  to  make  a  show  before 
them  of  inferiority  or  lack  of  skill.  In  whatever  ca- 
pacity he  takes  part  with  them,  he  ought  to  be  the 
acknowledged  superior.  It  will  weaken  his  influence  if 
they  laugh  at  his  awkward  performances  or  pity  him 
because  he  cannot  do  better.  If  he  is  a  poor  player, 
it  will  be  wise  for  him  not  to  join  the  boys  in  their 
sports  on  the  athletic  field;  he  will  appear  to  better 
advantage  as  a  spectator.  If  he  is  an  indifferent 
performer  in  the  gymnasium,  he  will  do  well  to  take  his 
exercise  there  when  his  boys  are  occupied  elsewhere. 

To  have  the  right  kind  of  influence  over  boys,  you 
must  believe  in  them.  You  must  see  and  appreciate 
what  is  good  and  lovable  in  their  nature,  and  must  not 
forget  your  own  shortcomings  when  you  were  at  their 
period  of  life.  You  must  give  them  credit  for  good 
motives,  and  not  show  suspicion  about  their  statements. 
By  so  doing  you  will  appeal  to  what  is  best  in  them, 
and  they  will  be  above  an  attempt  to  deceive  you.  Dr. 
Arnold  did  not  ask  a  boy  for  proof  of  his  assertion: 
"  If  you  say  so,  that  is  quite  enough ;  of  course  I  be- 
lieve your  word."     And  the  boys  said :  "  It  is  a  shame 


GOVERNMENT      ';-,;  \\\  ] /,\  101 

to  tell  Arnold  a  lie ;  he  always  believes  us."  We  know 
well  enough  that  he  did  not  always  believe  that  they 
were  telling  the  whole  truth  when  he  accepted  their 
statements,  but  it  was  a  better  reply  to  make  than 
the  one  that  has  been  a  favorite  with  so  many  modern 
teachers :  "  That  is  a  pretty  small  hole  to  crawl 
through  —  but  you  got  through."  No  schoolboy's  na- 
ture at  its  worst  can  be  totally  bad.  His  experience  of 
evil  is  not  yet  far  enough  advanced  to  harden  him 
against  the  unselfish  interest  of  one  who  has  faith  in 
him. 

To  understand  how  to  deal  wisely  with  any  individual 
boy,  you  must  learn  all  you  can  about  him.  You  will 
need  to  know  what  kind  of  a  home  he  comes  from; 
something  about  his  parents  and  whether  he  is  an  only 
child ;  of  what  sports  and  amusements  he  is  fond ;  what 
books  and  magazines  he  reads ;  what  his  tastes  and 
ideals  are;  what  he  plans  to  do  when  he  becomes  a 
man ;  who  his  companions  are,  and  what  his  reputation 
is  with  them ;  whether  he  is  a  leader  among  other  boys, 
or  is  led  around  by  them ;  and  of  course  what  his  pre- 
vious record  in  school  has  been.  The  more  you  know 
about  his  home  and  his  previous  history,  the  better  able 
you  will  be  to  help  him.  If  you  have  the  time  and  op- 
portunity, a  personal  acquaintance  with  the  parents  is 
desirable.  In  some  cases,  the  more  you  know  about  the 
parents,  the  more  sympathy  you  will  have  for  the  son. 
A  teacher  gets  knowledge  of  much  that  is  sad  in  the 
families  of  some  of  his  pupils,  not  only  of  bereavement 
and  sorrow,  but  of  lack  of  parental  love  and  care,  in 


102       T33.&   KOUNQ   MAN,  AND    TEACHING 

the  homeless  lives  of  children  whose  parents  are  sepa- 
rated. 

Sometimes  the  best  kind  of  treatment  is  that  of  which 
the  boy  has  felt  the  want  in  his  early  training.  In  my 
first  school  there  was  one  difficult  case  to  which  I  still 
look  back  with  great  satisfaction.  It  was  that  of  a 
boy  whom  no  teacher  had  been  able  to  manage.  He 
seemed  ugly  and  revengeful;  the  more  he  was  scolded 
and  punished,  the  worse  he  grew.  I  asked  my  pred- 
ecessor how  he  governed  him,  and  he  said :  "  He  is 
beyond  hope.  There  is  only  one  thing  to  do ;  knock 
him  down ;  and  even  that  never  seems  to  make  him  any 
better."  I  could  not  understand  how  a  boy  could  be 
made  better  by  that  method  of  discipline,  and  I  had  not 
the  heart  to  adopt  it.  This  was  my  first  hard  problem, 
and  I  think  I  solved  it  in  the  right  way.  I  was  con- 
vinced that  the  boy  had  never  known  what  appreciation 
and  kindness  were.  He  had  received  nothing  but  harsh 
treatment  at  home  and  in  school.  I  patiently  tried 
the  method  to  which  he  had  been  a  stranger.  The  re- 
sult surprised  and  delighted  me.  He  responded  to 
friendly  treatment  and  began  to  enjoy  doing  well  in 
the  tasks  which  I  required  of  him.  It  gratified  him 
to  receive  commendation  and  praise.  Within  a  short 
time  there  was  no  better  boy  in  school;  he  grew  fond 
of  books  and  even  became  a  favorite  with  those  who  had 
most  despised  him. 

When  at  i!he  beginning  of  the  year  a  teacher  takes  a 
new  class,  he  can  get  helpful  information  about  boys 
whom  he  does  not  know  from  those  who  have  had  them 


GOVERNMENT  103 

before.  This  will  save  him  mistakes  and  mis  judgments, 
and  will  secure  a  fairer  treatment  for  them.  A  few 
characteristic  phrases  attached  to  their  names,  favor- 
able or  unfavorable  as  each  case  requires,  will  serve 
like  weather  signals,  showing  about  what  may  be  ex- 
pected. But  they  are  to  be  considered  only  as  cau- 
tionary signals,  and  are  not  to  influence  one's  judgment 
based  on  his  own  experience.  In  a  new  subject  a  boy 
may  do  a  great  deal  better  or  a  great  deal  worse  than 
he  has  done  before.  His  deportment  also  may  change 
for  the  better  or  worse  as  he  advances  to  a  higher 
grade.  On  a  list  of  one  hundred  students,  perhaps 
sixty-five  or  seventy  will  be  commended  as  "  first-class," 
for  whom  no  further  note  is  necessary.  Of  the  others, 
such  individual  characteristics  may  be  given  as  will 
be  helpful  to  a  teacher  who  has  them  under  his  charge 
for  the  first  time.  The  following  examples  are  taken 
from  actual  reports  made  many  years  ago,  and  are 
at  least  interesting  as  showing  that  students  of  a 
former  generation  had  much  the  same  characteristics 
as  those  of  the  present  day: 

1.  Exemplary  in  every  way;  scholarship  good. 

2.  Fine  fellow;  truthfulness  itself,  but  needs  control. 

3.  Footless;   poor  scholar;   great  baby;   forced  to  go  to 

school  against  his  wishes;  ought  to  be  on  probation 
all  the  time. 

4.  Good,  but  careless  about  written  exercises. 

5.  Overworks;  hard  dig. 

6.  Careless,  effusive,  needs  rein. 

7.  Rather  too  easy-going,  but  not  a  bad  boy. 

8.  Irregular  from  nervous  prostration;  fine  fellow. 


104       THE    YOUNG    MAN    AND    TEACHING 

9.  Mothered  too  much. 

10.  Hard  worker;  scholarship  fair. 

11.  Has  many  illnesses,  but  faithful,  quiet  fellow. 

12.  Great  bluffer. 

13.  Has    reformed    and    turned    over    entirely    new    leaf; 

promises  well;  needs  firm  hand. 

14.  Wants  many  privileges,  but  in  general  deserves  them. 

15.  A  complaining  struggler. 

16.  Good  intentions;  weak;  needs  close  watch. 

17.  Health  poor;  choice  young  man. 

18.  Champion  sponge  and  bluffer;  healthy  invalid;  spoiled 

at  home. 

19.  Poor  scholar  with  weak  eyes. 

20.  Nice,  harmless  little  fellow. 

21.  Thorough  gentleman;  honorable;  scholarship  good. 

22.  First-class  rough  diamond. 

23.  Footless;  nothing  vicious,  simply  lazy. 

24.  Spoiled  mother's  boy. 

25.  Modest,  sickly,  sensitive,  but  well-meaning. 

26.  Started  well,  grew  more  and  more  careless,  scholarship 

declining. 

27.  Inclined  to  neglect  serious  work  for  outside  activities. 

28.  Dull;  seems  obstinate;  supports  himself;  hardly  worth 

educating. 

The  advantages  that  come  from  a  teacher's  reputa- 
tion for  good  order  must  not  be  overlooked.  Boys  are 
not  inclined  to  trifle  with  a  master  who  has  a  reputation 
for  strictness,  who  insists  on  gentlemanly  deportment, 
and  will  not  accept  slovenly  or  careless  work.  They 
expect  to  behave  and  to  study  when  they  come  under 
him,  and  this  relieves  him  from  almost  everything  that 
is  difficult  and  disagreeable  in  the  management  of  his 
room.     The  teacher  who  is  loose  in  government  will 


GOVERNMENT  105 

have  indifferent  pupils,  and  cannot  hope  to  create  a 
general  interest  in  study.  The  normal  boy  likes  to  be 
commanded  by  one  who  has  the  right  to  command. 
As  the  member  of  an  athletic  team,  he  submits  with 
manly  pride  to  the  orders  of  his  captain.  He  likes 
military  drill,  and  prefers  a  teacher  whose  discipline  is 
firm  and  consistent,  who  is  a  real  master,  to  one  who 
lets  him  do  much  as  he  pleases.  The  master  who  is 
uniformly  strict  may  be  feared  more  than  he  is  loved, 
but  if  he  is  always  just,  he  will  be  respected,  and  when 
his  boys  become  men  they  will  realize  that  strict  dis- 
cipline was  what  they  needed. 


CHAPTER  VII 


RULES    AND    PENALTIES 


The  fewer  rules,  the  better.  Unsatisfactory  results  of  a  general 
rule.  Corporal  punishment  once  the  usual  penalty  in  school  and 
family.  This  penalty  now  generally  abandoned.  As  far  as 
possible,  govern  without  penalties.  Herbert  Spencer's  views  on 
natural  penalties.  What  the  discipline  of  the  school  should  teach 
about  the  results  of  wrong-doing.  Self-government.  Reproof  and 
penalties  not  to  be  given  in  presence  of  the  school  or  class.  Dis- 
cipline must  be  uniform.  For  serious  offenses  the  natural  penalty 
is  dismissal. 

The  right  man  to  put  in  charge  of  a  schoolroom  is 
the  one  who  can  control  it  by  his  presence  and  has  little 
need  of  rules  and  penalties.  Benjamin  Apthorp  Gould 
of  the  Boston  Latin  School  had  a  rare  faculty  for  main- 
taining discipline  without  severity.  His  predecessor 
had  withdrawn  because  the  school  was  in  such  a  condi- 
tion of  disorder  that  he  could  not  control  it.1  Ralph 
Waldo  Emerson  was  a  student  in  the  school  at  this 
time,  and  he  thus  describes  Mr.  Gould's  first  act  when 

i  Mr.  Gould  was  appointed  to  fill  this  unexpected  vacancy  in 
May,  1814,  while  a  senior  at  Harvard.  He  gave  such  satisfaction 
that  he  was  continued  as  headmaster,  and  was  allowed  to  receive 
his  degree  with  his  class.  Under  his  administration  the  school 
rose  from  a  temporary  depression  to  which  it  had  been  gradually 
falling  under  his  predecessor,  and  rapidly  advanced  in  reputation 
and  numbers.  He  had  a  powerful  personal  influence,  and  his 
government  was  uniformly  kind  and  just. 

106 


RULES   AND    PENALTIES  ICJf 

the  committee  had  left  the  room  in  his  care :  "  As  soon 
as  the  committee  took  their  hats  and  turned  the  door, 
the  boys  began  to  buzz  their  opinion  of  the  new  master 
in  low  tones.  Mr.  Gould  turned  around  to  them  and 
lifted  his  finger  to  command  silence,  which  was  instantly 
obeyed,  and  from  that  moment  he  ruled."  l  In  a  large 
building,  where  there  are  many  rooms  and  many  teach- 
ers, there  must  be  a  code  of  rules  for  the  orderly  move- 
ment of  the  whole  body ;  but  when  it  comes  to  the  per- 
sonal conduct  of  individual  pupils  in  a  classroom,  the 
fewer  rules  the  better.  I  have  already  spoken  of  one 
of  my  early  schoolmasters,  who  had  only  one  rule  for 
all  pupils  and  for  all  cases :  "  Do  right."  This  rule 
appealed  to  the  conscience  of  every  boy.  He  knew 
what  was  right  and  what  was  wrong,  and  he  was  put 
on  his  honor.  A  boy  will  be  tempted  to  break  a  rule 
for  the  mere  pleasure  of  doing  it,  when  he  would  not 
think  of  committing  the  act  covered  by  it  if  it  were 
not  forbidden.  Thomas  Hughes,  in  Tom  Brown's 
School  Days,  said  of  the  Rugby  students :  "  They  only 
looked  upon  rules  as  a  sort  of  challenge  from  the  rule- 
makers  which  it  would  be  rather  bad  pluck  in  them  not 
to  accept."  This  is  human  nature.  A  good  many  men 
do  the  same. 

One  unsatisfactory  result  of  making  a  general  rule  is 
that,  if  it  is  enforced  impartially,  the  penalty  may  hit 
an   innocent   boy   and   miss    the   real   wrong-doer   for 

i  Report  of  the  Centennial  Celebration  of  the  Alumni  of  the 
Boston  Latin  School  in  The  Boston  Daily  Advertiser  of  Novem- 
ber 10,  1876. 


108       THE    YOUNG    MAN    AND    TEACHING 

whom  it  was  intended.  I  would  not  make  a  rule,  with 
a  fixed  penalty,  against  this  or  that  kind  of  disorder, 
unless  I  was  sure  beyond  a  doubt  that  it  could  be  en- 
forced successfully  and  without  injustice  to  any.  One 
of  my  friends  was  employed  for  a  term  or  two  as  in- 
structor of  a  college  class.  He  was  thoroughly  quali- 
fied to  teach  his  subject,  but  he  was  without  experience 
in  teaching  and  lacked  the  keenness  of  vision  which  is  so 
great  an  aid  to  the  teacher  in  maintaining  good  order. 
As  his  subject  was  considered  dry  and  as  the  recitation 
was  not  infrequently  continued  beyond  the  hour,  the 
students  became  restless,  and  missiles  were  sometimes 
thrown  across  the  room.  As  "  the  day  we  celebrate  " 
drew  near,  the  missiles  took  the  form  of  toy  "  torpe- 
does." Finding  himself  unable  to  discover  by  whom 
these  were  thrown,  he  made  a  rule  that  he  felt  sure 
would  be  effective.  He  announced  that  he  should  hold 
the  person  responsible  nearest  whom  the  projectiles 
were  exploded!  Of  course,  after  that  they  were  all 
exploded  on  the  wall  behind  his  back. 

A  great  change  has  taken  place  within  the  last  cen- 
tury regarding  ithe  method  of  managing  the  young. 
The  early  settlers  of  New  England  evidently  believed 
that  boys  were  by  nature  bad,  and  that  the  only  way 
to  make  a  bad  boy  good  was  to  chastise  him  till  his 
"  will  was  broken."  This  was  a  natural  corollary  of 
the  doctrine  of  total  depravity.  They  looked  upon 
chastisement  as  a  religious  duty,  and  delegated  to  the 
schoolmaster  the  power  to  inflict  punishment  on  their 
sons  according  to  his  own  judgment,  reserving  to  the 


RULES    AND    PENALTIES  109 

father  the  right  to  make  complaint  only  when  he 
thought  punishment  was  too  severe.  As  early  as  1645, 
the  people  of  Dorchester,  in  the  colony  of  Massachu- 
setts Bay,  adopted  a  long  list  of  rules  and  orders  for 
the  regulation  of  the  public  school  in  that  town. 
Among  them  is  found  one  on  corporal  punishment,  of 
which  the  following  is  a  part : 

"  And  because  the  Rodd  of  Correction  is  an  ordinance  of 
God  necessary  sometymes  to  be  dispensed  unto  Children, 
but  such  as  may  easily  be  abused  by  over  much  severity 
and  rigor  on  the  one  hand,  or  by  over  much  indulgence  and 
lenitye  on  the  other ;  it  is  therefore  ordered  and  agreed  that 
the  schoolmaster  for  the  tyme  beeing  shall  have  full  power 
to  minister  Correction  to  all  or  any  of  his  Schollers  without 
respect  of  persons  according  as  the  nature  and  Qualitie  of 
the  offense  shall  require;  whereto  all  his  Schollers  must  bee 
duely  subject;  and  no  parent  or  other  of  the  inhabitants 
shall  hinder  or  go  about  to  hinder  the  master  therein." 

At  the  present  day  corporal  punishment  is  forbidden 
in  the  public  schools  of  several  of  the  larger  cities,  and, 
in  many  others,  is  allowed  only  when  all  other  means 
have  failed,  and  then  under  very  definite  restrictions. 
In  the  best  private  schools  it  is  now  unknown.  When 
it  ceased  to  be  fashionable,  the  spirit  of  the  pupils  be- 
came better,  and  it  was  found  that  what  could  not  be 
accomplished  by  brute  force  could  often  be  attained  by 
more  humane  methods.  Instead  of  attempting  to  sub- 
due the  evil  in  a  boy's  nature  by  harsh  treatment,  the 
modern  teacher  appeals  to  his  good  impulses  and  manly 
aspirations,  to  his  sense  of  honor,  and  to  his  ambition 
to  be  known  as  a  gentleman.     The  self-willed  boy  need 


110       THE    YOUNG    MAN    AND    TEACHING 

not  "  have  his  will  broken  "  by  beating  him  till  he  gives 
in,  if  he  can  be  taught  to  control  his  will  and  become 
self-governing.  But  the  one  essential  thing  in  disci- 
pline is  submission  to  authority,  and  the  teacher  who 
fails  to  secure  this  fails  disastrously.  If  this  end  can- 
not be  gained  by  any  other  means,  the  will  must  be 
reached  through  the  body;  force  is  to  be  preferred  to 
failure.  I  am  no  friend  of  corporal  punishment,  as 
generally  understood,  and  never  resorted  to  it  when 
a  teacher  in  the  public  schools;  but  there  is  no  doubt 
that  the  use  of  the  rod  and  ferule  is  a  less  evil  than  con- 
tinued disobedience  and  a  disorderly  school. 

I  am  convinced  that  it  is  best  to  govern  without  pen- 
alties as  far  as  possible,  but  of  course  this  is  not  al- 
ways possible.  One  may  decide  on  the  general  prin- 
ciple to  follow,  but  it  is  not  so  easy  to  be  clear  about 
the  best  course  to  pursue  in  an  emergency.  The  safe 
way  is  to  act  with  great  deliberation,  and  never  settle 
a  difficult  question  of  discipline  on  a  sudden  impulse. 
The  teacher  may  thus  be  saved  from  an  act  which  he 
might  like  to  undo,  and  the  boy  who  has  committed  the 
offense  will  get  no  little  punishment  from  the  anxiety 
and  uncertainty  caused  by  postponement.  It  is  said 
to  have  been  the  practice  of  Dr.  Abbott  of  Exeter  to 
put  the  boy  who  had  been  guilty  of  a  serious  offense  in 
a  room  by  himself  and  leave  him  in  suspense,  that  he 
might  have  opportunity  to  reflect  on  what  he  had  done, 
and  to  dread  the  impending  punishment  which  he  knew 
would  be  severe  when  the  Doctor  came  in  to  settle  with 
him. 


RULES    AND    PENALTIES  HI 

Though  corporal  punishment  has  been  mostly  done 
away  with,  results  as  bad  or  even  worse  may  be  pro- 
duced by  the  sarcastic  rebuke  which  is  no  less  brutal. 
The  sting  of  the  rod  was  soon  over.  The  sneering  rep- 
rimand inflicts  a  wound  which  lasts  as  long  as  the  mem- 
ory of  the  boy  who  receives  it.  It  is  well  worth  while 
to  deal  patiently  with  the  pupil  who  needs  frequent  cor- 
rection. Such  boys  often  make  better  men  than  those 
who  have  a  sort  of  precocious  goodness,  who  some- 
times prove  in  mature  life  unreliable  and  unable  to  with- 
stand strong  temptation. 

Every  teacher  has  days  when  the  work  drags,  when 
the  boys  are  restless  and  troublesome,  and  all  things 
go  wrong.  This  may  be  the  result  of  the  weather 
or  of  the  condition  of  the  room.  The  reason  may  be 
found  in  some  event  of  yesterday  or  of  to-morrow,  in 
which  they  are  more  interested  than  in  their  lessons. 
Or  the  trouble  may  come  from  some  bodily  or  mental 
ailment  of  the  teacher  himself.  If  he  is  not  at  his 
best,  he  cannot  expect  his  pupils  to  be  so.  Whatever 
the  occasion  may  be,  this  is  the  time  for  the  teacher 
to  maintain  his  calmness  and  self-control  and  to  re- 
frain from  scolding  and  from  inflicting  penalties.  The 
occasion  does  not  call  for  punishment,  but  for  some- 
thing that  will  cause  the  pupils  to  forget  themselves, 
and  put  them  into  a  new  mental  attitude ;  some  exercise 
that  will  so  interest  them  that  they  will  fix  on  it  their 
undivided  attention,  some  story,  or  a  talk  on  an  un- 
expected topic;  or,  for  younger  pupils,  an  attractive 
task  in  which  all  can  engage  in  a  spirit  of  competition. 


112       THE    YOUNG    MAN    AND    TEACHING 

During  a  half-century  of  teaching  and  administra- 
tive work  I  have  been  a  careful  student  of  Herbert 
Spencer's  views  on  education  and  have  been  greatly  in- 
fluenced by  what  he  writes  in  commendation  of  natural 
penalties  in  his  chapter  on  Moral  Education.  This  is 
excellent  reading  for  any  one  who  has  responsibility 
for   the   training  of   the  young. 

We  need  to  keep  constantly  in  mind  that  the  pur- 
pose of  discipline,  as  well  as  of  teaching,  is  to  prepare 
our  pupils  for  the  duties  and  responsibilities  of  life. 
In  a  few  years  they  will  be  free  men,  citizens  of  a  free 
state,  and  subject  only  to  the  laws  which  they  and 
their  fellow-citizens  unite  to  make.  The  time  of  great- 
est danger  to  the  boy  is  when  he  goes  out  from  under 
the  control  of  his  family  and  teachers,  into  the  world, 
where  he  is  essentially  his  own  master.  It  is  then, 
when  suddenly  freed  from  external  restraint,  that  he 
may  be  tempted  to  yield  to  influences  that  undermine 
the  foundations  of  character  laid  in  the  home  and 
school.  When  he  reaches  that  period,  he  ought  to 
know,  so  thoroughly  that  he  will  not  need  to  learn  it 
by  costly  experience,  that  by  the  law  of  nature  good 
or  evil  will  come  to  him  mainly  as  the  result  of  his  own 
conduct.  If  he  is  not  prompt  and  faithful  as  an  em- 
ployee, he  will  lose  his  place;  if  he  is  irregular  in  his 
habits  and  reckless  in  his  way  of  living,  he  will  lose  his 
health;  if  he  is  square  and  honest,  he  will  be  respected 
and  trusted;  if  he  is  tricky  and  underhanded,  he  will 
have  no  standing.  The  discipline  of  the  school  should 
be  such  as  to  teach  him  this  lesson  of  the  natural  result 


RULES    AND    PENALTIES  113 

of  his  own  conduct.  This  is  not  the  ordinary  lesson 
derived  from  penalties  that  have  no  natural  connection 
with  the  offense,  and  which  are  often  inflicted  arbi- 
trarily, according  to  the  whim  of  the  parent  or  teacher. 
It  is  not  to  be  denied  that  such  punishments  check  the 
evil  action  for  a  time,  but  they  do  not  tend  to  pro- 
duce a  permanent  reform  in  the  boy,  and  while  we  do 
not  forget  what  is  due  the  school  as  a  whole,  in  dealing 
with  the  young  the  reform  of  the  individual  should  be 
the  chief  object  sought  in  the  giving  of  penalties. 
When  arbitrary  punishment  is  inflicted,  the  boy  is  de- 
terred from  committing  a  like  offense  again  by  the 
fear  of  punishment,  but  not  because  he  cares  whether 
his  conduct  was  right  or  wrong.  To  him  any  kind  of 
conduct  in  school  becomes  right  enough  if  it  does  not 
involve  some  penalty.  When  he  gets  where  there  is  no 
longer  any  supervision  over  him,  and  where  the  pen- 
alties for  wrong-doing  are  very  remote,  what  restrain- 
ing influence  will  he  feel  as  a  result  of  such  discipline? 
The  temptation  to  go  wrong  will  be  hard  to  resist  be- 
cause he  sees  nothing  to  fear  in  the  way  of  immediate 
punishment,  and  is  unmindful  of  future  evil  results. 

That  kind  of  discipline  in  school  is  best  which  comes 
nearest  to  the  discipline  of  a  good  home,  where  the 
children  are  taught  to  understand  the  natural  conse- 
quence of  their  conduct.  The  best  reward  of  good 
conduct  is  the  feeling  of  satisfaction  that  one  has  done 
right  and  has  contributed  to  the  happiness  or  welfare 
of  others.  The  heaviest  penalty  of  the  wrong-doer 
is  his  own  self-condemnation,  the  feeling  that  he  has 


114       THE    YOUNG    MAN    AND    TEACHING 

done  wrong  and  has  injured  others  or  has  made  them 
unhappy.  The  sense  of  guilt  with  the  consciousness  of 
having  injured  another,  if  a  boy  can  be  made  to  realize 
it,  is  a  heavier  penalty  than  any  that  can  be  added  by 
the  authority  of  the  school.  When  the  relations  be- 
tween teacher  and  pupil  are  friendly  and  cordial,  to 
have  incurred  a  teacher's  displeasure  will  be  a  penalty 
which  the  boy  will  feel  keenly.  He  will  also  suffer  much 
if  he  is  conscious  of  a  loss  of  the  respect  of  his  class- 
mates. To  apologize  for  an  injury  or  insult  to  another 
is  a  natural  penalty,  and  while  I  would  not  force  a 
boy  to  apologize,  I  would  advise  it  in  such  a  way  that 
he  would  think  it  the  only  manly  thing  to  do.  The 
loss  of  privileges  which  are  highly  prized  is  an  appro- 
priate and  effective  punishment.  To  atone  as  far  as 
possible  for  a  wrong  action  by  doing  a  good  one  will 
seem  just  and  proper  to  almost  any  one  if  the  subject 
is  rightly  presented  to  him.  When  a  boy  fails  to  pre- 
pare his  lesson,  it  seems  a  natural  penalty  to  detain 
him  after  the  exercise  till  he  learns  it,  but  this  often 
punishes  the  teacher  as  well  as  the  boy,  and  giving  a 
boy  mental  work  to  do  as  a  penalty  has  a  tendency  to 
make  him  dislike  study.  Every  boy  should  be  so 
trained  that  he  will  desire  above  all  things  to  be  hon- 
orable and  trustworthy.  He  should  be  made  to  feel 
that  good  conduct  is  right  and  that  bad  conduct  is 
wrong,  that  it  is  manly  to  do  right  and  unmanly  to  do 
wrong,  and  that  all  through  life  his  standing  as  a 
man  among  men  will  depend  upon  what  he  is  in  himself 
and  what  he  does. 


RULES    AND    PENALTIES  115 

The  best  way  to  prepare  a  boy  to  meet  temptation 
when  external  restraint  is  removed,  is  to  train  him  to 
be  self-governing.  This  is  not  done  by  over-zealous 
watchfulness  and  continual  urging,  but  by  teaching 
him  right  principles  and  leaving  him  more  and  more  to 
control  himself.  Of  course  the  ordinary  boy  cannot  be 
made  self-governing  in  a  brief  time,  as  plants  are 
forced  in  a  hothouse.  We  do  not  expect  or  desire  that, 
either  at  home  or  in  school.  We  have  been  in  his 
place  and  we  understand  and  appreciate  his  feeling  of 
self-importance  and  independence,  and  his  belief  that 
he  does  not  need  advice ;  but  we  know,  also,  that  if  left 
to  himself  he  may  become  very  selfish  and  conceited 
and  form  wrong  ideas  of  his  duties  toward  other  people. 
He  may  need  not  only  good  admonition  from  a  sympa- 
thetic and  friendly  instructor,  but  often  also  whole- 
some and  sometimes  severe  correction.  The  develop- 
ment toward  self-control  will  be  slow,  as  all  sound 
growth  is.  As  long  as  he  is  in  the  lowest  classes,  he 
will  need  the  firm  government  of  a  strong  but  kind- 
hearted  teacher,  who  knows  how  to  give  penalties,  if  it 
is  necessary  to  give  any,  that  have  some  natural  con- 
nection with  the  offense  committed  and  who  can  lead 
him  to  understand  the  natural  consequence  of  trans- 
gression. As  the  years  pass,  we  may  expect  his  moral 
development  to  be  such  before  he  leaves  the  school  that 
he  will  need  no  restraint  beyond  the  approval  of  his 
instructors,  the  good  opinion  of  his  classmates  and 
companions,  and  his  own  sense  of  what  is  right  and 
wrong. 


116       THE    YOUNG    MAN    AND    TEACHING 

It  is  generally  better  not  to  inflict  penalties  of  any 
kind  in  the  presence  of  the  school  or  class.  It  was 
once  a  common  practice  to  do  this  that  other  students 
might  observe  the  consequences  of  disobedience  and 
take  warning.  A  penalty  inflicted  in  the  presence  of 
his  companions  makes  a  hero  of  the  culprit,  if  he  is  a 
brazen-faced  and  hardened  offender,  and  causes  him  un- 
necessary humiliation  if  He  is  sensitive  and  not  prac- 
ticed in  mischief.  If  a  master  gets  into  a  heated  argu- 
ment in  the  classroom  with  a  boy  who  answers  back, 
or  has  a  physical  struggle  with  him,  it  makes  an  un- 
pleasant scene  both  for  the  master  and  for  those  who 
have  to  witness  it,  while  the  boy  glories  in  it.  It  has 
come  down  by  tradition  that  the  gentle  and  dignified 
John  Richardson,  principal  of  Leicester  Academy,  fa- 
miliarly called  "  Old  Jack  "  by  his  boys,  at  first  pun- 
ished offenders  in  the  public  schoolroom,  but  that  on 
one  occasion,  in  a  contest  with  a  rough  and  burly  boy, 
he  found  him  more  than  his  match,  and  "  the  boy  got 
the  old  man  down,"  after  which  he  wisely'  took  his  more 
pugnacious  victims  to  the  gloomy  seclusion  of  his  own 
barn. 

I  do  not  like  the  idea  of  inflicting  punishment  mainly 
for  the  purpose  of  warning  others  against  wrong-doing. 
When  a  boy  caught  in  some  general  disorder  is  singled 
out  and  punished  as  an  example  to  the  others,  the  pun- 
ishment is  apt  to  be  too  severe,  as  he  is  supposed  to 
suffer  the  penalty  for  the  sins  of  his  companions  whom 
he  would  not  betray,  as  well  as  his  own.  It  seems  to 
me  that  a  severe  penalty  inflicted  publicly  for  its  effect 


RULES    AND    PENALTIES  117 

on  other  students  is  generally  evidence,  not  of  strength, 
but  of  weakness  in  government;  but  I  can  readily  see 
that  the  man  who  is  responsible  for  the  good  order  of 
a  large  school  may  sometimes  think  it  advisable  to 
act  with  this  motive  in  view. 

It  is  as  important  that  discipline  be  uniform  as  it 
is  that  it  be  strict,  but  this  does  not  mean  that  the  same 
penalty  should  be  given  for  a  first  offense  that  is  to 
be  given  to  one  who  persists  in  disobedience.  The  cir- 
cumstances, the  age,  the  motive,  the  temptation,  should 
be  taken  into  consideration.  To  be  just,  each  case 
must  be  decided  on  its  merits,  but  the  government 
should  be  uniform  from  day  to  day.  It  is  evidence 
of  great  weakness  to  let  things  go  at  loose  ends  for  a 
considerable  time,  till  the  situation  becomes  so  bad  that 
it  can  be  endured  no  longer,  and  then  suddenly  impose 
a  very  heavy  penalty  on  a  large  number,  including  the 
innocent  with  the  guilty  and  sometimes  allowing  the 
most  guilty  to  escape  altogether.  The  way  of  the 
transgressor  is  not  made  hard  when  a  guiltless  com- 
panion receives  the  same  penalty  as  the  chief  offender. 
We  sometimes  read  that  the  faculty  of  an  institution 
has  suspended  a  whole  class  for  some  rebellious  action, 
and  this  is  supposed  to  show  the  strictness  of  discipline 
in  that  school,  whereas  it  shows  lack  of  discipline.  The 
right  kind  of  discipline  would  have  produced  in  the 
class  a  spirit  of  obedience  and  loyalty  to  the  school 
that  would  have  made  a  general  defiance  of  faculty  au- 
thority impossible.  It  is  with  the  school  much  as  it 
is  with  the  family.     The  father  who  in  the  government 


118       XHE    YOUNG    MAN    AND    TEACHING 

of  his  children  now  and  then  finds  it  necessary  to  resort 
to  severe  penalties  is  not  infrequently  punishing  them 
on  account  of  his  own  neglect  to  exercise  oversight 
upon  them  from  day  to  day. 

If  after  patient  and  considerate  treatment  at  the 
hands  of  a  competent  master  a  boy  still  continues  un- 
manageable, or  if  his  influence  over  his  fellows  is  plainly 
injurious,  there  remains  one  natural  penalty,  and  that 
is  dismissal.  If  he  is  not  willing  or  not  able  to  be  a 
worthy  member  of  the  school  community,  his  separation 
from  it  follows  as  a  matter  of  course.  The  principal 
of  a  public  school  serving  under  the  direction  of  a  board 
of  education,  and  indirectly  responsible  to  the  tax  pay- 
ers and  voters,  may  not  feel  free  to  inflict  this  penalty, 
lest  his  action  be  not  generally  approved.  The  law  of 
the  state  also  may  require  that  children  remain  in  the 
public  schools  up  to  a  certain  age,  and  removal  may 
result  in  a  transfer  to  a  special  school  for  the  incor- 
rigible or  to  a  reform  school,  where  the  boy  will  as- 
sociate with  companions  worse  than  himself. 

But  in  the  private  schools  and  endowed  academies 
during  the  last  one  hundred  years  dismissal  has  been  the 
almost  universal  penalty  for  serious  offenses  often  re- 
peated. Dr.  Arnold  said :  "  The  first,  second  and  third 
duty  of  a  schoolmaster  is  to  get  rid  of  the  unpromising 
subjects."  The  master  owes  it  to  the  earnest  and  well- 
intentioned  boys  to  protect  them  from  the  pernicious 
influence  of  lazy  and  disorderly,  as  well  as  of  vicious 
and  low-minded  companions.  When  it  is  desirable  to 
get  rid  of  a  boy  whose  influence  is  demoralizing,  but 


RULES    AND    PENALTIES  119 

against  whom  no  specific  offense  can  be  proved  the 
removal  may  be  accomplished  without  calling  special 
attention  to  it,  as,  for  example,  at  the  end  of  the  term, 
or  through  an  arrangement  with  the  father.  The  rea- 
son for  the  absence  of  an  undesirable  pupil  under  such 
circumstances  is  generally  well  understood  by  his  com- 
panions. Forced  withdrawal  under  any  form  is  a  pen- 
alty which  a  boy  will  keenly  feel,  and  the  prospect  of  it 
will  help  him  to  mend  his  ways  if  anything  will.  If  a 
boy  is  insolent  and  defiant,  it  is  best  for  all  concerned 
that  the  blow  fall  suddenly,  and  such  action  should  be 
so  far  final  that  no  petition  for  reinstatement  or  for 
recommendation  to  another  school  can  be  considered 
within  the  next  twelve  months.  A  school  whose  admin- 
istration is  characterized  by  this  degree  of  firmness  is 
likely  to  have  a  long  waiting  list  of  desirable  applicants 
for  admission.  To  suspend  or  to  dismiss  a  boy,  and 
immediately  take  him  back  on  an  appeal  from  home, 
supported  perhaps  by  letters  from  men  of  wealth  or 
prominence,  is  evidence  of  weakness  which  no  man  fit  to 
be  a  head-master  should  be  willing  to  display. 

At  the  same  time,  there  is  need  of  caution  that  there 
be  no  injustice  done,  and  that  a  boy  be  not  sent  away 
permanently  if  there  is  a  good  chance  of  saving  him. 
We  ought  to  remember  that  schools  are  not  established 
solely  for  the  benefit  of  those  who  do  not  need  discipline ; 
that  boys  with  strong  wills,  if  brought  under  proper 
restraint,  often  make  the  best  men;  that  the  removal 
of  a  wayward  youth  from  good  influences  may  cut  him 
off  from  any  chance  of  reformation;  that  the  bad  boy 


120       THE    YOUNG    MAN    AND    TEACHING 

thus  removed  will  grow  up  to  be  a  citizen  of  the  state, 
and  probably  a  bad  citizen;  and  that  to  make  a  good 
boy  out  of  a  bad  one  is  the  highest  triumph  of  a 
teacher. 


CHAPTER  VIII 

TEACHING    IN    COLLEGE 

Freedom  of  the  college  student.  His  personal  responsibility. 
Exposure  to  temptation.  Helpful  agencies  and  influences  in  col- 
lege. Rules  of  the  earliest  American  colleges.  Faculty  restric- 
tions regarding  attendance.  Some  penalty  for  absence  needed. 
Frequent  tests.  Personal  influence  of  the  faculty  in  college  gov- 
ernment. College  names  and  customs.  The  student  of  to-day  a 
gentleman.  The  college  teacher  must  be  a  growing  scholar. 
Should  also  be  a  productive  scholar.  The  need  of  the  undergrad- 
uate college  is  good  instruction.  Freedom  of  the  college  in- 
structor. Advantages  and  disadvantages  of  lecture  courses.  Ef- 
fective instruction  by  lectures.  Frequent  revision  of  lecture 
courses.  Marking  students'  work.  Preparation  for  college  in 
private  schools,  and  in  high  schools.  The  college  teacher's  influ- 
ence on  character.  Great  opportunity  for  the  right  kind  of  teach- 
ers for  Freshman  year. 

The  college  student  has  a  degree  of  freedom  from 
supervision  which  it  would  have  been  unwise  to  allow 
him  when  only  a  schoolboy.  He  has  passed  from  boy- 
hood to  young  manhood.  He  is  free  to  decide  many 
things  for  himself  which  the  rules  of  the  school  have 
heretofore  decided  for  him.  He  has  now  to  rely  mostly 
on  his  own  judgment  and  to  make  his  own  decisions. 
The  faculty  expect  that  he  will  do  the  work  which  they 
require  of  him  and  do  it  well,  and  that  he  will  do  it 
when  required;  that  his   conduct  will  be  such  as  not 

to   interfere   with   the   liberty   and   enjoyment   of   his 

121 


122       THE    YOUNG    MAN    AND    TEACHING 

fellows  or  with  their  general  welfare,  and  such  as  not  to 
bring  discredit  on  the  college.  If  he  satisfies  the  faculty 
on  such  necessary  requirements,  he  is,  with  few  excep- 
tions, free  to  spend  his  time,  when  not  attending  college 
exercises,  as  he  thinks  best,  and  he  has  as  much  liberty 
as  is  allowed  to  any  law-abiding  citizen. 

This  change  throws  upon  the  student  much  of  the 
responsibility  that  belonged  to  the  teacher  in  the  pre- 
paratory school,  who  felt  to  a  great  degree  responsible 
for  the  boy's  progress  in  his  studies ;  now,  that  responsi- 
bility falls  mainly  on  the  student  himself.  The  college 
offers  him  the  opportunity ;  it  is  his  business  to  see  that 
he  profits  by  it.  Herein  may  be  found  in  part  an  expla- 
nation of  the  complaint  sometimes  heard  that  the  stu- 
dent does  not  have  teachers  in  Freshman  year  equal  to 
those  who  taught  him  in  the  preparatory  school.  This 
may  be  sometimes  true,  for  no  college  can  provide  for  a 
large  class  of  Freshmen  a  staff  of  teachers  all  of  whom 
possess  the  ability  and  experience  of  some  of  the  distin- 
guished masters  who  have  for  many  years  taught  the 
graduating  classes  in  the  best  schools,  men  like  Dr. 
Soule  or  Dr.  Bancroft  or  Dr.  Meigs.  But  the  aim  of 
the  college  teacher  is  in  some  respects  different.  He 
sets  before  his  pupil  the  opportunity  to  learn  and  as- 
sumes that  he  will  appreciate  his  share  of  the  responsi- 
bility for  the  result.  The  young  man  has  been  declared 
fit  to  enter  college,  by  an  examination  board  or  by  the 
certificate  of  his  principal,  and  it  is  right  for  the  teacher 
to  assume  that  he  has  already  been  taught  how  to  study 
and  is  now  able  to  concentrate  his  attention;  that  he 


TEACHING    IN    COLLEGE  123 

knows  how  to  take  up  new  problems,  and  that  he  will  not 
shrink  from  those  that  are  difficult;  that  he  would  not 
be  in  college  if  he  had  not  shown  in  some  satisfactory 
way  his  ability  to  do  college  work.  It  is  right  also  for 
the  teacher  to  assume  that  the  student  has  a  purpose  in 
the  selection  of  his  studies,  and  that  he  has  chosen  his 
course  because  he  wishes  to  get  a  knowledge  of  the  sub- 
ject, and  not  simply  to  fill  up  his  schedule  of  hours. 

If  a  father  should  say  to  you :  "  Is  there  any  one 
who  will  take  an  interest  in  my  son  when  he  enters  col- 
lege ?  "  you  would  tell  him  the  truth,  and  tell  him  what 
he  ought  to  keep  in  mind,  if  you  should  say  in  reply: 
"  There  are  always  men  who  will  seek  the  acquaintance 
of  the  youth  who  goes  away  from  home  to  take  a  posi- 
tion where  he  must  necessarily  be  placed  more  than  he 
has  yet  been  upon  his  own  responsibility,  men  who,  hav- 
ing no  regard  for  his  welfare,  and  exploiting  his  igno- 
rance or  inherited  weakness  for  commercial  ends,  will 
urge  him  to  purchase  what  he  does  not  want,  and  tempt 
him  into  ways  that  lead  to  habits  from  which  a  self- 
respecting  man  ought  to  flee.  It  is  for  him  to  choose 
what  sort  of  men  he  will  allow  to  get  interested  in  him. 
If  he  has  not  already  enough  character  for  this,  he  is 
not  safe  anywhere,  unless  it  be  under  the  constant  watch- 
fulness of  father  and  mother,  and  perhaps  not  even  when 
with  them." 

On  the  other  hand,  you  can  assure  the  father  that 
there  are  many  helpful  agencies  and  good  influences  in 
college,  but  that  the  newcomer  must  have  courage  and 
independence  enough  to  take  advantage  of  them.     In 


124.       THE    YOUNG    MAN    AND    TEACHING 

most  colleges  now  each  Freshman  has  a  Division  Officer, 
or  Faculty  Adviser,  or  a  member  of  the  Faculty  Fresh- 
man Committee,  to  whom  he  can  go,  without  apology  for 
the  interruption,  and  with  full  confidence,  when  he  needs 
counsel.  There  is  the  College  Christian  Association, 
which  is  more  than  ready  to  help  him.  The  pastor  of 
the  College  Church,  or  of  any  church  which  students 
attend,  will  always  be  glad  to  welcome  a  new  student 
who  is  willing  to  seek  his  advice.  There  is  the  "  college 
spirit  "  which  has  been  developed  by  history  and  tradi- 
tion, by  pride  in  great  teachers  and  distinguished  grad- 
uates, by  rivalries  with  other  colleges  and  by  victories 
won  by  the  undergraduates  in  debate  or  in  athletic 
sports.  In  an  institution  of  learning  worthy  to  be 
called  a  college  the  spirit  of  the  place  stands  for  man- 
hood and  honor,  and  for  a  clean  and  upright  life.  It 
would  be  a  great  help  to  the  new  student  if  he  could  be 
convinced  when  he  enters  that  a  man  in  college  is  rated 
by  his  classmates  for  what  he  really  is,  and  that  bad 
habits  and  selfish  conduct  spoil  his  reputation  and  make 
it  impossible  for  him  to  associate  with  the  best  men.  He 
ought  to  know  that  he  will  be  himself  responsible  for  the 
influence  which  college  life  has  upon  him ;  that  his  repu- 
tation and  social  standing  among  his  fellows  will  be 
essentially  what  his  companions,  his  habits,  and  his  man- 
ners make  them;  and  that  he  cannot  justly  throw  the 
blame  for  bad  habits  on  evil  companions,  for  his  com- 
panions will  be  those  whom  he  has  selected,  or  whom  he 
has  allowed  to  select  him,  and  his  habits  will  be  such  as 
he  has  not  been  unwilling  to  form.     A  youth  when  enter- 


TEACHING    IN    COLLEGE  125 

ing  college  should  understand  at  the  beginning,  and  the 
father  should  also  understand,  that  college  is  a  place  of 
much  freedom  and  that  the  student  is  responsible  for  the 
use  which  he  makes  of  that  freedom.  Both  father  and 
son  should  understand  that  many  young  men  start 
wrong  because,  among  new  companions,  they  dare  not 
take  a  stand  for  the  principles  for  which  they  have  been 
known  at  home,  and  have  not  the  courage  to  live  up  to 
the  traditions  of  the  family  which  they  represent. 

During  the  first  century  of  the  oldest  American  col- 
leges, the  rules  were  many  and  minute,  and  restricted 
the  student's  liberty  more  than  would  be  thought  wise  in 
any  boys'  school  to-day.  They  concerned  not  only  his 
conduct,  but  also  his  manners,  his  beliefs,  his  conversa- 
tion, his  dress,  his  recreations,  his  time  for  study  and  for 
exercise.  The  early  students  in  Harvard  and  Yale  lived 
constantly  under  rules.  Gradually  the  narrow  regula- 
tions have  been  done  away  with.  A  hundred  years  ago 
college  students  were  forbidden  to  do  many  things  which 
the  faculty  some  years  later  not  only  allowed  but  en- 
couraged. A  graduate  of  Yale,  out  of  college  thirty 
years  or  more,  meeting  Professor  Thacher,  expressed  a 
desire  to  see  some  of  the  new  buildings.  They  went  to 
the  recently  built  gymnasium  and  after  watching  the 
students  at  their  exercise  in  the  main  hall,  the  Professor 
took  him  to  the  basement,  showed  him  the  bowling  alleys, 
and  suggested  that  he  try  his  skill  with  the  ball.  The 
visitor  said :  "  Why,  Professor  Thacher,  when  I  was  in 
college  I  was  suspended  for  rolling  tenpins !  " 

The  American  college,  standing  between  the  prepara- 


126       THE    YOUNG    MAN    AND    TEACHING 

tory  school  and  the  graduate  school,  while  it  allows 
greater  freedom  than  the  preparatory  school,  cannot 
safely  allow  the  freedom  of  the  graduate  and  profes- 
sional schools,  and  there  are  some  restrictions  to  which 
the  college  student  must  be  subject;  but  these  relate 
mostly  to  his  college  exercises,  and  very  few  concern  his 
personal  conduct  when  outside  of  the  classroom. 

If  you  are  called  to  teach  in  a  college  where  attend- 
ance is  optional,  you  will  be  expected  to  make  your  in- 
struction so  interesting  and  stimulating  that  your  stu- 
dents will  come  to  your  classes  voluntarily  and  study  for 
the  love  of  it.  That  would  be  an  ideal  state.  But  in  a 
large  college  regular  and  punctual  attendance  at  all 
exercises  is  not  often  secured  without  some  faculty  re- 
strictions. In  the  graduate  or  professional  school  the 
student  will  not  be  absent  from  an  exercise  if  he  can 
avoid  it,  because  absence  means  the  loss  of  what  he  came 
to  the  university  to  get ;  but  many  of  the  students  in  a 
college  class  would  consider  such  absence  a  gain  if  there 
were  no  other  penalty  than  the  loss  of  instruction.  Ex- 
pressions of  regret  and  disappointment  on  the  part  of 
the  class  are  not  often  heard  when  a  college  instructor 
omits  his  recitation.  Absence  from  the  classroom  exer- 
cise must  cost  the  student  something  which  he  will  appre- 
ciate, and  if  he  does  not  care  about  the  loss  of  the  oppor- 
tunity to  gain  knowledge,  he  needs  something  in  the  na- 
ture of  a  penalty  which  he  will  feel.  Whether  the  pen- 
alty for  absence  be  reckoned  in  a  loss  of  privileges  or  in 
lowering  the  grade  of  scholarship,  or  whether  it  is  al- 
lowed to  stand  as  an  uncanceled  warning  against  the 


TEACHING    IN    COLLEGE  127 

student,  continued  irregularity  cannot  be  tolerated  and 
should  result  in  suspension  or  dismissal. 

I  believe  that  the  faculty  should  in  some  way  see  to  it 
that  the  student  does  the  work  expected  of  him  day  by 
day,  and  independently.  Now  when  there  are  so  many 
ways  of  being  prepared  for  an  examination,  by  private 
tutors,  digests,  "lectures,"  and  other  like  devices,  the 
fact  that  a  student  gets  a  passing  mark  on  a  term  exami- 
nation is  no  proof  whatever  that  he  has  satisfactorily 
done  the  term's  work.  Most  young  men  of  college  age 
will  yield  to  the  temptation  to  neglect  their  studies  from 
day  to  day  unless  they  have  to  meet  frequent  tests  on 
work  assigned  them  and  on  which  they  must  be  prepared 
at  definite  times.  Where  a  written  test  is  given  to  suc- 
cessive divisions,  new  sets  of  questions  should  be  made 
out  for  each  division  taking  a  test  in  the  same  assign- 
ment. 

In  a  college  long  established  the  conduct  of  the  stu- 
dents outside  the  classroom  is  to  a  great  extent  deter- 
mined by  tradition.  The  faculty  has  a  hard  job  on  its 
hands  when  it  undertakes  to  compel  the  student  body  to 
give  up  a  long-established  custom  by  the  passage  of  laws 
to  which  severe  penalties  are  attached.  College  stu- 
dents can  be  governed  by  personal  influence  much  better 
than  by  rules.  They  can  be  persuaded  by  members  of 
the  faculty  whom  they  respect  and  esteem  to  do  almost 
anything  that  is  reasonable  in  the  way  of  abolishing  bad 
customs  and  establishing  better  ones  in  their  place,  but 
the  attempt  to  bring  about  a  reform  by  force  may  lead 
to  strong  opposition  and  often  ends  in  failure.     Since 


128       THE    YOUNG    MAN    AND    TEACHING 

they  are  allowed  great  freedom  in  the  management  of 
their  own  affairs,  it  is  not  difficult  to  enlist  their  cooper- 
ation in  securing  good  order  and  to  make  them  in  great 
degree  self-governing,  both  on  the  campus  and  elsewhere. 
The  greater  the  freedom  allowed  them,  the  greater  will 
be  their  sense  of  responsibility  and  their  willingness  to 
form  a  community  that  in  matters  outside  the  classroom 
for  the  most  part  governs  itself  and  does  not  need  to  be 
under  the  constant  control  of  the  faculty. 

You  need  not  be  annoyed  or  disturbed  at  any  of  the 
peculiar  ways  of  undergraduate  students,  whether  you 
teach  in  your  own  college  or  in  one  with  whose  customs 
you  are  not  familiar.  You  should  not  feel  troubled  if 
you  find  that  among  themselves  your  pupils  have  a  nick- 
name for  you  based  on  some  personal  peculiarity,  or 
that  they  call  you  familiarly  by  your  first  name.  When 
students  shorten  an  instructor's  catalogue  title  to 
"  Toot,"  or  "  Doc,"  or  "  Prof,"  it  is  a  sign  of  fondness 
and  affection.  If  they  heartily  dislike  a  teacher,  they 
often  refer  to  him  by  some  name  too  bad  to  quote. 
Each  college  forms  a  little  community  by  itself.  It  has 
its  own  peculiar  customs  and  uses  many  characteristic 
names,  some  originating  within  its  own  walls  and  some 
common  to  all  colleges.  The  authorities  may  lay  out  a 
broad  street  leading  to  the  dining  hall  and  pave  it  and 
plant  trees  along  the  border  and  name  it  University 
Avenue,  but  the  students  will  very  likely  call  it  Grub 
Street,  partly  because  they  prefer  two  syllables  to  eight 
and  partly  because  it  seems  to  them  a  peculiarly  appro- 
priate name. 


TEACHING    IN    COLLEGE  129 

The  college  student  to-day  considers  himself  a  gentle- 
man and  expects  to  give  you  in  the  classroom,  and  to 
receive  from  you,  the  treatment  which  becomes  a  gentle- 
man. He  may  lack  interest  in  his  studies  and  slight 
them  when  he  can.  He  may  even  write  letters  and  read 
novels  in  your  recitation  or  lecture,  but  he  will  not 
amuse  himself  by  whittling  the  benches  and  making  a 
fire  of  the  chips,  nor,  if  you  have  the  unfortunate  habit 
of  holding  your  classes  too  long,  will  he  bring  in  an 
alarm  clock  set  to  go  off  on  the  minute  when  the  exercise 
should  close,  as  his  father  may  boast  that  he  did.  I 
wonder  how  a  father  can  take  delight  in  describing  to  his 
son  the  tricks  which  he  played  on  the  faculty  and  in 
claiming  that  he  got  along  without  study  when  he  was  in 
college.  A  father  who  takes  pleasure  in  enlarging  upon 
his  own  weaknesses  when  he  was  a  student,  makes  it  more 
difficult  for  the  college  to  do  anything  for  his  boy.  But 
fortunately  there  are  not  many  such.  The  father  who 
had  a  crooked  course  in  college  generally  takes  unusual 
pride  in  having  a  son  rank  higher  and  behave  better 
than  he  did. 

To  be  a  successful  teacher  in  college,  you  must  be  a 
thorough  and  accurate  scholar  and  must  not  cease  to 
grow  in  knowledge  and  power.  Otherwise  you  will  lose 
the  confidence  of  your  students  and  fail  to  commend 
yourself  to  the  men  above  you  in  your  department. 
You  may,  after  you  have  had  the  advantage  of  a  few 
years'  experience  with  college  studies,  and  have  learned 
how  a  boy  ought  to  be  prepared  for  college  life,  prefer 
to  take  up  teaching  in  a  good  school,  perhaps  as  head- 


130       THE    YOUNG    MAN    AND    TEACHING 

master,  but  you  must  not  allow  yourself  to  be  forced  to 
give  up  college  teaching  on  account  of  lack  of  scholar- 
ship. Probably  at  first  you  will  find  your  income  small. 
If  so,  it  will  be  a  mistake  to  add  to  it  by  private  tutor- 
ing. It  will  be  better  economy  to  devote  your  spare 
time  to  your  own  mental  development  and  to  the  acqui- 
sition of  knowledge  that  will  enable  you  to  become  a 
superior  teacher.  No  member  of  the  faculty  should  be 
allowed  to  give  private  instruction,  for  money,  to  stu- 
dents in  his  own  courses ;  it  is  difficult  to  believe  that 
any  teacher,  who  has  thought  the  matter  through, 
would  think  it  fair  or  honorable  to  do  this,  but  it  is 
said  that  it  has  sometimes  been  done. 

One  who  devotes  his  life  to  college  instruction  ought 
to  be  a  productive  scholar.  If  he  is  not  pursuing  a  line 
of  investigation  with  the  purpose  of  producing  some- 
thing worthy  to  be  read  either  before  a  local  club  for 
study  and  research  or  in  a  larger  gathering  of  teachers, 
or  to  be  issued  in  printed  form,  he  is  likely  to  cease  to 
grow  intellectually.  He  has  ample  time  for  investiga- 
tion and  writing.  Few  college  instructors  are  occupied 
in  the  classroom  more  than  twelve  or  fifteen  hours  per 
week.  The  comparatively  short  working  day  and  the 
many  weeks  of  vacation  offer  the  opportunity  for  pri- 
vate study  and  research,  and  if  they  are  not  thus  im- 
proved, the  time  not  actually  needed  for  classroom  and 
committee  duties  will  probably  be  spent  at  a  club,  or  in 
purposeless  social  amusements  that  could  be  given  up 
without  loss.  To  produce  anything  that  will  have 
value,  such  studies  ought  to  be  voluntary  and  pursued 


TEACHING    IN    COLLEGE  131 

on  account  of  interest  in  the  subject  and  love  of  the 
work,  and  not  solely  or  chiefly  from  the  hope  of  advance- 
ment in  rank. 

Important  as  it  is  that  you  become  a  creditable 
scholar,  it  is  no  less  important,  if  you  are  to  continue 
with  undergraduate  students,  that  you  prove  yourself 
also  a  good  teacher.  The  demand  of  the  graduate 
school  is  for  specialists,  for  great  scholars  who  can 
investigate  and  produce  works  that  are  valuable.  The 
graduate  student  needs  to  place  himself  under  the  influ- 
ence of  such  men.  But  what  the  undergraduate  college 
needs  is  good  instruction.  Here  is  a  most  interesting 
and  attractive  body  of  young  men.  Not  many  of  them 
will  become  scholars,  and  those  who  do  will  pursue  ad- 
vanced studies  in  the  graduate  school;  but  the  greater 
part  will  be  men  of  influence  and  power  in  the  commu- 
nities where  they  live.  To  work  with  them  is  an  ines- 
timable privilege,  and  while  for  your  own  sake  and  the 
sake  of  the  college  you  should  continue  to  be  a  growing 
scholar,  your  first  duty  to  your  students  is  to  be  a  good 
teacher.  Investigation  and  publication  will  be  helpful 
to  you  and  ought  to  make  you  a  better  teacher  because 
such  tasks  will  keep  the  mind  sharp  and  active.  The 
danger  is  that  you  may  think  this  the  only  work  to 
which  you  need  to  give  any  thought  and  may  come  to 
regard  classroom  work  as  only  necessary  drudgery. 
This  is  a  wrong  view,  though  many  hold  it.  As  long  as 
you  teach  undergraduates,  the  demand  on  you  which 
rises  above  all  others  is  that  you  be  a  good  teacher. 

One  much  appreciated  advantage  which  the  college 


132       THE    YOUNG    MAN    AND    TEACHING 

teacher  has  over  the  teacher  in  the  school  lies  in  his 
freedom  in  the  selection  of  the  courses  which  he  may 
offer  and  in  his  method  of  treating  his  subject.  When 
he  has  proved  himself  a  valuable  member  of  the  faculty, 
he  may  be  encouraged  by  the  head  of  his  department  to 
introduce  new  courses,  as  he  has  time  to  prepare  them, 
and  to  devise  new  ways  of  presenting  them.  He  can 
limit  the  number  who  will  be  allowed  to  select  a  course 
so  that  he  may  teach  a  few  by  questions  and  explana- 
tions, or  he  can  open  a  course  to  an  entire  class,  or  per- 
haps to  more  than  one  class,  with  the  hope  of  having 
so  many  take  it  that  he  will  have  a  good  reason  for 
instructing  them  by  lectures.  A  mistake  into  which  a 
young  teacher  is  in  danger  of  falling  is  to  aim  at  large 
numbers,  in  the  belief  that  this  will  show  that  he  is  a 
superior  instructor.  It  may  show  rather  that  he  makes 
his  course  too  easy  or  that  he  is  a  good  talker,  who  fur- 
nishes the  class  with  more  entertainment  than  instruc- 
tion. 

If  one  of  your  courses  is  chosen  by  so  many  students 
that  you  think  you  cannot  teach  them  satisfactorily  in 
divisions,  you  will  probably  not  be  disappointed.  You 
remember  some  of  the  helpful  courses  of  lectures  which 
you  had  in  your  undergraduate  days,  and  perhaps  re- 
gard this  as  the  ideal  method  for  a  college  instructor. 
It  may  be  for  some,  but  not  for  all.  Beyond  question, 
the  best  teaching  for  undergraduates  is  done  where  the 
divisions  are  so  small  that  the  teacher  knows  each  indi- 
vidual student,  discovers  his  difficulties  and  deficiencies, 
is  able  to  give  him  the  guidance  that  he  needs,  and  can 


TEACHING    IN    COLLEGE  133 

be  sure  by  questions  and  tests  that  he  studies  system- 
atically and  prepares  for  every  exercise.  For  this  end 
there  ought  to  be  not  more  than  twenty  or  thirty  stu- 
dents in  a  division,  and  many  courses  could  be  better 
taught  to  divisions  of  ten  to  fifteen.  This  would  involve 
greater  expense  than  most  colleges  would  be  ready  to 
bear.  Moreover,  it  would  result  in  many  cases  in  bring- 
ing in  inferior  teachers,  and  would  make  it  impossible 
for  all  students  to  come  under  the  influence  of  the  best 
men  on  the  faculty,  unless  the  number  of  students  in  the 
college  were  quite  small.  In  subjects  that  nearly  all 
students  are  likely  to  choose,  the  instruction  is  more 
often  given  by  lectures,  especially  in  the  two  upper 
years.  In  general,  the  lecture  is  a  poor  substitute  for 
the  recitation  as  far  as  instruction  goes,  because  the  lec- 
turer addresses  a  body  of  students  whose  ability  and 
qualifications  are  not  known  to  him  by  personal  ac- 
quaintance. Like  any  audience  at  a  public  lecture,  they 
may  be  interested  at  the  time  in  what  they  hear,  but  will 
have  only  a  general  impression  of  it  a  day  or  two  after- 
ward. If,  however,  the  instructor  has  the  natural  gifts 
of  a  good  public  speaker,  many  of  those  who  hear  him 
will  get  an  inspiration  from  his  presence  that  the  best 
textbooks  cannot  awaken. 

If  you  decide  to  give  your  instruction  in  a  course  by 
lectures,  you  should  know  your  subject  thoroughly  and 
be  ready  to  present  it  in  the  clearest  and  most  attractive 
form.  Your  lecture  must  be  carefully  prepared;  it 
should  be  written  out  and  your  plan  of  it  followed; 
otherwise  you  will  unconsciously  wander  off  into  roads 


134       THE    YOUNG    MAN    AND    TEACHING 

that  lead  nowhere.  But  it  will  be  coldly  received  if  it 
be  read  from  the  manuscript.  I  remember  a  professor 
who  dictated  every  word  of  his  lectures,  and  even  indi- 
cated what  words  should  be  underscored  and  what  should 
be  double  underscored;  his  lectures  were  not  impressive 
and  were  not  thought  valuable  by  his  students.  Dictat- 
ing lectures  word  by  word  is  not  to  be  recommended,  but 
one  who  lectures  to  college  students  should  be  concise 
and  logical  in  his  statements  and  should  speak  distinctly 
and  proceed  with  deliberation.  The  important  points 
should  be  repeated  and  dwelt  upon  and  emphasized  till 
you  are  sure  that  every  one  is  able  to  understand  them, 
and  your  talk  should  not  become  wearisome  on  account 
of  its  length.  Your  purpose  is  to  interest  and  instruct 
all  who  hear  you.  The  hour  of  your  lecture  is  all  the 
time  you  have  in  which  to  impress  your  thoughts  upon 
your  students,  and  you  must  make  sure  that  your  effort 
leaves  no  doubt  in  their  minds  as  to  your  meaning.  For 
this  you  are  responsible.  You  give  to  the  class  the  best 
you  have  and  leave  the  result  to  them. 

Two  things  are  necessary  to  give  value  to  a  lecture  to 
students  who  are  not  enough  interested  to  train  them- 
selves. (1)  Some  preparation  ought  to  be  required 
from  portions  of  textbooks  to  be  read  before  the  lecture. 
One  who  is  not  prepared  in  advance  to  follow  and  under- 
stand a  lecture  will  get  little  or  nothing  from  it,  except 
perhaps  a  pleasant  hour.  (£)  All  members  of  the  class 
should  take  notes,  and  a  test  on  the  pages  assigned  to  be 
read  and  on  the  material  of  the  lecture  should  be  held, 
perhaps  at  the  beginning  of  the  next  exercise,  or  at 


TEACHING    IN    COLLEGE  135 

special  exercises  conducted  by  quiz  masters.  If  the 
students  do  not  take  notes,  but  find  that  they  can  depend 
for  all  that  they  need  to  know  about  a  course  on  other 
students  or  on  private  tutors,  they  may  conclude  that 
the  hour  spent  in  the  lecture  is  for  them  so  much  wasted 
time.  To  insure  accuracy  in  names  and  dates,  and  in 
statistics  of  all  kinds,  these  should  be  given  out  in 
printed  or  typewritten  form  or  written  before  the  exer- 
cise on  the  blackboard. 

In  general  you  will  not  find  it  wise  to  repeat  a  course 
of  lectures  to  a  succeeding  class  in  the  exact  form  in 
which  they  were  given  the  year  before.  This  might 
suggest  to  the  more  thoughtful  men  in  the  class  that  you 
are  not  doing  any  serious  work  in  your  subject,  and  the 
student  would  soon  learn  that  a  notebook  handed  down 
from  last  year's  class  is  an  easy  and  adequate  substitute 
for  one  which  he  takes  the  trouble  to  write  out  himself. 

The  college  will  perhaps  require  you  to  report  to  the 
dean  or  registrar  the  relative  grades  of  the  students  in 
your  courses,  in  order  to  prepare  an  honor  list.  In 
marking  a  student's  work,  whether  on  daily  recitations 
or  on  term  examination,  a  wide  distinction  should  be 
made  between  that  which  is  excellent  and  that  which  is 
good,  between  the  very  best  and  that  which  is  second 
best ;  and  as  the  best  recitation  is  rarely  perfect,  a  per- 
fect mark  should  not  often  be  given.  An  examination 
paper  which  shows  no  knowledge  of  the  subject  should 
be  marked  as  a  failure,  or,  in  some  cases,  worse  than  a 
failure,  without  regard  to  the  number  of  pages  that  have 
been  written  over.     The  student  who  tries  to  bluff  and 


136       THE    YOUNG    MAN    AND    TEACHING 

pretends  to  knowledge  when  he  has  none,  ought  really  to 
be  rated  lower  than  the  one  who  hands  in  a  blank  sheet, 
or  who  in  answer  to  a  question  frankly  confesses  that  he 
does  not  know  and  is  given  a  zero.  The  principal  of  a 
large  private  school,  when  bringing  some  of  his  grad- 
uates to  take  the  college  entrance  examinations,  in  order 
to  show  the  thoroughness  of  scholarship  in  his  school 
told  me  that  the  average  standing  of  his  senior  class  for 
the  entire  year  had  been  ninety-five  per  cent,  a  standing 
higher  than  had  ever  been  given  even  to  the  best  scholar 
in  some  of  the  good  schools  and  colleges.  This  was  no 
proof  of  unusual  excellence  in  scholarship.  It  showed 
rather  that  his  teachers  marked  all  recitations  so  high 
that  the  highest  standings  which  they  gave  were  no  evi- 
dence whatever  of  superior  scholarship. 

If  a  young  man  comes  to  college  before  he  is  in  a 
condition  to  feel  a  good  degree  of  responsibility  for  his 
own  progress  and  while  he  is  unable  to  profit  by  the 
freedom  which  the  college  allows,  he  has  come  too  young 
or  has  not  had  the  necessary  training  at  home  or  in  the 
school.  Perhaps  in  some  private  schools  the  rules  are 
too  many  and  too  minute.  The  schools  that  place  much 
responsibility  on  the  students,  and  trust  them  with  as 
much  liberty  outside  the  classroom  as  they  can  safely 
be  allowed  to  have,  send  their  graduates  to  college  better 
prepared  to  use  without  harm  the  greater  freedom  which 
they  there  enjoy.  In  these  schools  the  test  of  a  boy's 
ability  to  take  care  of  himself  comes  at  an  earlier  period, 
and  those  who  cannot  stand  the  test  the  schools  send 
away.     The  most  of  these  delinquents  complete  their 


TEACHING    IN    COLLEGE  137 

preparatory  studies  under  private  tutors  or  at  a  tutor- 
ing school  and  enter  college,  some  to  do  fairly  well,  some 
to  fail  early  in  Freshman  year,  some  to  wriggle  through 
in  the  way  by  which  they  entered,  by  being  crammed  for 
examinations  by  private  tutors,  and  finally  to  get  a 
degree  which  they  do  not  deserve.  One  is  amazed  to 
discover  the  ability  which  a  skillful  private  tutor  has 
in  preparing  students  to  hand  in  papers  which  the  in- 
structor accepts,  although  he  is  well  convinced  that 
they  have  done  no  real  work  in  his  course. 

Boys  who  have  lived  at  home  and  have  been  prepared 
at  the  local  high  schools  generally  have  less  difficulty  in 
adapting  themselves  to  the  freedom  of  college  life. 
They  have  already  had  to  think  and  plan  for  them- 
selves, getting  such  help  as  the  high  school  faculty  could 
give  them.  They  have  grown  strong  and  independent 
through  the  difficulties  which  they  have  had  to  meet. 
At  college,  in  their  own  class  or  in  the  class  above  them, 
they  have  few  acquaintances,  and  being  often  somewhat 
deficient  in  preparation  and  obliged  to  spend  all  their 
time  in  study,  they  are  not  likely  to  be  unfavorably 
influenced  by  evil  companions.  The  real  worth  of  a 
student's  preparation  is  not  shown  merely  by  his  ability 
to  get  in  without  conditions,  but  more  by  his  ability  to 
profit  by  the  freedom  of  college  life  and  to  make  good 
use  of  the  opportunities  which  the  college  affords. 
The  truest  tests  are  the  progress  he  makes  after  enter- 
ing college,  and  his  rank  and  character  at  the  end  of 
Freshman  or  Sophomore  year. 

A  college  teacher  may  not  feel  guilty  of  neglecting  his 


138       THE    YOUNG    MAN    AND    TEACHING 

duties  as  long  as  he  gives  his  classes  the  best  instruc- 
tion of  which  he  is  capable ;  but,  though  he  rightly  as- 
sumes that  his  students  are  advanced  enough  to  feel 
responsible  for  their  progress  in  study  and  to  have  due 
regard  for  their  character  and  habits,  yet  he  knows  that 
there  are  many  who  do  not  fully  recognize  this  respon- 
sibility, and  some  who  have  no  real  conception  of  it. 
There  is  before  him  a  great  opportunity  for  personal 
influence  over  the  young  men  whom  he  instructs,  an  op- 
portunity to  help  them  in  the  formation  of  a  character 
which  will  stand  the  ordinary  tests  of  manhood.  He 
ought  not  to  be  satisfied  with  merely  teaching  them  his 
subject.  There  ought  to  be  something  in  his  methods 
of  teaching  and  in  his  manner  of  dealing  with  them 
which  will  strengthen  them  in  a  purpose  to  live  clean 
and  upright  lives.  During  the  first  two  college  years 
such  influences  are  especially  needed. 

It  is  a  question  whether  much  can  be  done  by  his 
teachers  to  help  the  young  man  who  is  by  inheritance  or 
early  training  vicious,  or  who  is  weakened  in  body  and 
mind  by  enervating  habits ;  in  many  cases  his  class- 
mates and  companions  can  reach  him  better  than  his 
instructors.  If  a  student's  influence  is  unquestionably 
bad  and  there  seems  no  reasonable  chance  of  reforming 
him,  for  the  good  of  the  community  he  ought  not  to  be 
allowed  to  remain  in  college.  He  is  getting  no  good,  is 
injuring  others,  and  tarnishing  the  good  name  of  the 
college.  It  is  clear  enough  that  in  future  years  he  will 
not  be  an  honor  to  the  institution  if  he  is  counted  among 
its  alumni. 


TEACHING    IN    COLLEGE  139 

But  the  majority  of  those  who  are  weak  and  unstable, 
who  came  to  college  a  year  too  soon,  who  have  not  yet 
the  character  to  endure  without  some  encouragement  and 
support,  can  be  reached  and  strengthened  before  they 
get  beyond  help.  It  is  in  most  instances  easy  for  a 
teacher  to  discover  when  a  student  in  his  first  term  is 
beginning  to  go  wrong.  Association  with  bad  com- 
panions and  the  first  steps  in  paths  that  lead  to  disaster 
are  generally  accompanied  by  neglect  of  study  and  slip- 
shod classroom  work.  A  few  sympathetic  words  of 
warning  spoken  with  authority  by  a  friendly  instructor 
at  the  first  signs  of  a  loss  of  interest  may  be  worth  more 
to  a  young  man  than  all  the  learning  that  he  will  acquire 
from  a  year's  course  of  study.  There  is  no  kind  of  col- 
lege work  that  is  superior  to  that  done  by  a  good  teacher 
of  Freshmen  who  understands  the  peculiar  difficulties 
and  temptations  which  surround  them,  and  who  is  at  all 
times  ready  to  make  any  personal  sacrifice  if  he  can 
save  and  strengthen  those  who  are  in  danger  of  falling, 
and  be  to  them  a  safe  counselor  and  guide. 


CHAPTER  IX 


SUGGESTIONS 


Vacations.  The  earliest  New  England  schoolmasters  did  not 
have  regular  vacations.  The  modern  teacher  especially  favored. 
A  teacher's  vacations  not  solely  for  his  own  enjoyment.  Read- 
ing and  study.  Rest  and  relaxation.  New  associations.  Danger 
to  some  of  overwork  in  vacation.  Loyalty  to  the  school.  Written 
examinations.  Written  classroom  exercises.  These  to  be  read  and 
returned  promptly.  A  teacher's  proper  business  is  not  to  correct 
written  papers.  The  teacher  must  continue  to  be  a  student. 
Should  have  an  avocation.  Should  be  what  he  wishes  his  pupils 
to  become.  Easily  becomes  dictatorial  in  manner.  Should  be 
ready  to  accept  criticism.  Seeking  a  new  position.  The  teacher 
as  a  citizen. 

The  very  early  New  England  schoolmasters  did  not 
enjoy  the  luxury  of  short  school-days  and  regular  vaca- 
tions. They  taught  six  days  in  the  week,  and  not 
less  than  eight  hours  in  the  day,  beginning  sometimes 
as  early  as  six  o'clock  in  the  morning  the  year  round. 
At  Roxbury  the  master  was  hired  "  to  keepe  a  schoole 
for  ye  space  of  one  full  yeare  "  (of  fifty-two  weeks), 
being  allowed  no  doubt  some  time  to  attend  to  his  per- 
sonal affairs,  "  but  without  unnecessarily  absenting  him- 
self to  the  prejudice  of  his  schollers  and  hindering  their 
learning."  In  one  case  found  on  the  New  Haven  town 
records  the  master  was  by  special  vote  of  the  com- 
mittee to  "  have  liberty  once  a  year  to  see  his  friends," 

140 


SUGGESTIONS  14)1 

from  which  we  may  reasonably  infer  that  without  some 
special  vote  there  was  no  such  liberty. 

Ministers  and  public  servants  have  not  always  had 
regular  vacations,  and  sometimes  have  taken  no  vaca- 
tion at  all  for  long  periods,  however  much  they  were  in 
need  of  it.  Horace  Mann  said  in  a  Supplementary  Re- 
port appended  to  his  last  Annual  Report  as  Secretary 
of  the  Massachusetts  Board  of  Education : 

M  I  trust,  then,  that  I  may  be  permitted  to  state,  without 
any  imputation  of  improper  motives,  that  from  the  time 
when  I  accepted  the  secretaryship,  in  June,  1837,  until 
May,  1848,  when  I  tendered  my  resignation  of  it,  I  labored 
in  this  cause,  an  average  of  not  less  than  fifteen  hours  a 
day;  that,  from  the  beginning  to  the  end  of  this  period,  I 
never  took  a  single  day  for  relaxation;  and  that  months 
and  months  together  passed  without  my  withdrawing  a  sin- 
gle evening  from  working-time  to  call  upon  a  friend."  x 

Now  every  one,  who  can,  wisely  takes  a  vacation,  and 
the  teacher  is  favored  above  all  others.  A  man  em- 
ployed in  business  has  to  be  satisfied  with  a  vacation 
of  two  weeks  in  the  year.  The  young  physician  or 
lawyer  does  not  often  take  more.  The  teacher  is  al- 
lowed about  one-fourth  of  the  calendar  year,  not  be- 
cause his  work  is  so  much  more  exhausting  that  he  re- 
quires it,  but  because  the  pupils  are  supposed  to  require 
it. 

If  the  school  authorities  allow  the  teacher  so  many 
weeks  of  freedom,  it  is  evident  that  he  is  under  obliga- 

i  Twelfth    Annual    Report    of  the    [Massachusetts]    Board   of 
Education,  p.  150. 


142       THE    YOUNG    MAN    AND    TEACHING 

tion  to  use  these  periods  not  solely  for  his  own  enjoy- 
ment, but  in  such  a  way  that  he  may  be  at  their  close 
in  the  best  possible  condition  for  his  school  duties.  He 
should  come  back  from  the  long  summer  vacation  fresh 
and  enthusiastic,  and  eager  to  begin  the  work  of  the 
new  year.  It  is  wise  for  him  to  forget  the  schoolroom 
altogether  for  some  consecutive  weeks  of  this  extended 
period  (never  less  than  two)  ;  but  if  the  summer  vaca- 
tion has  been  spent  wholly  in  idleness,  or  in  some  mild 
form  of  sport,  or  in  reading  something  so  easy  that 
it  requires  no  thought,  he  is  likely  to  return  with  slug- 
gish mind  and  almost  wishing  that  life  were  all  one 
continuous  vacation.  Unless  a  teacher  is  utterly  ex- 
hausted or  is  in  feeble  health,  long-continued  idleness 
is  not  the  kind  of  rest  which  he  needs. 

A  vacation  furnishes  a  splendid  opportunity  for  out- 
side reading  which  the  pressure  of  duties  in  term-time 
does  not  allow.  The  summer  months  are  favorable 
for  reading  and  study,  as  the  long  day  makes  artificial 
light  unnecessary.  I  am  convinced  that  for  a  consid- 
erable part  of  the  long  vacation  a  teacher  who  is  in 
proper  physical  condition  should  take  systematically 
a  part  of  each  day,  at  least  two  or  three  hours,  and 
always  the  same  part,  for  fascinating  and  rather  diffi- 
cult intellectual  work  of  some  kind.  This  will  keep 
the  mind  active,  and  the  satisfaction  that  comes  from 
doing  something  worth  while  will  stimulate  and 
strengthen  the  whole  being. 

You  will  find  the  needed  rest  in  a  change  of  scene  or 
in  a  different  kind  of  occupation.     There  are  many 


SUGGESTIONS  143 

advantages  in  a  secluded  retreat  in  the  country,  where 
one  can  be  quiet  and  undisturbed.  A  certain  amount 
of  travel  is  beneficial,  and  a  man  on  a  teacher's  salary 
is  not  generally  in  danger  of  affording  too  much  of  it. 
The  teachers  in  England  have  the  desirable  opportunity 
of  making  short  and  easy  vacation  trips  to  Italy  or 
Greece,  or  to  some  other  interesting  spot  on  the  Conti- 
nent. For  us  a  visit  to  Europe  takes  much  time  and  is 
expensive.  But  if  we  cannot  visit  foreign  countries,  we 
can  travel  in  our  own.  Every  teacher  ought  to  take 
trips  to  as  many  places  of  historical  interest  on  this 
side  of  the  Atlantic  as  his  time  and  means  allow.  Such 
visits  will  make  him  a  better  American,  and  hence  a  bet- 
ter teacher  of  American  youth;  and  he  will  bring  back 
illustrative  material  that  will  brighten  his  recitations, 
,even  if  he  teaches  mathematics  or  an  ancient  language. 
To  get  the  most  out  of  the  periods  of  vacation,  it  is 
obvious  that  they  should  not  be  spent  to  any  great 
extent  with  the  colleagues  with  whom  one  is  associated 
during  three-fourths  of  the  year.  There  is  opportunity 
enough  to  visit  and  talk  and  debate  with  these  during 
the  thirty-six  weeks  of  term-time.  For  his  own  growth, 
one  needs  to  form  new  acquaintances  among  the  teach- 
ing profession  and  to  have  a  chance  to  discuss  with 
them  some  of  the  problems  that  vex  him  at  home.  It 
is  not  necessary  to  say,  also,  that  he  should  religiously 
accept  the  opportunities  afforded  by  the  school  au- 
thorities for  visiting  other  schools,  and  for  attending 
gatherings  planned  and  managed  by  educational  boards 
and  by  teachers'  associations.     One  cannot  expect  to 


144       THE    YOUNG    MAN    AND    TEACHING 

be  a  growing  teacher  if  he  lazily  avoids  these  oppor- 
tunities of  learning  from  the  experience  and  investiga- 
tions of  others.  It  is  well,  also,  to  form  acquaintances 
with  men  of  other  occupations.  There  is  no  kind  of 
practical  knowledge  which  is  not  valuable  to  the  teacher. 
He  will  learn  much  from  studying  the  methods  of  men 
in  other  professions  or  in  business. 

While  in  general  that  vacation  is  best  spent  in  which 
one  does  a  certain  amount  of  study  or  writing,  yet  it  is 
not  just  to  the  school  in  which  he  is  employed  that  a 
master  should  give  so  much  time  to  literary  work  that 
he  returns  at  the  beginning  of  the  new  year  more  in 
need  of  rest  than  at  the  beginning  of  the  vacation.  Do 
not  be  too  eager  to  finish  a  book  or  an  article  before 
the  term  opens.  Many  teachers  have  suffered  seriously 
in  health  from  having  to  go  on  with  classroom  work 
after  such  a  strain,  and  some  have  greatly  shortened 
their  lives  by  it. 

The  first  obligation  of  a  teacher  is  to  the  school 
of  which  he  is  a  part.  The  Board  which  has  given  him 
his  place  and  the  headmaster  under  whose  direction  he 
serves  have  a  right  to  expect  that  he  will  be  thoroughly 
loyal.  A  school  in  which  the  headmaster  and  his  sub- 
ordinate teachers  do  not  believe,  and  in  which  they  are 
not  working  together  in  harmony  for  the  common  wel- 
fare, cannot  be  a  fit  place  to  which  to  send  boys  and 
will  not  long  retain  its  patronage.  If  a  teacher  is  not 
at  heart  loyal,  cannot  take  pride  in  his  school  and 
"  talk  it  up,"  and  feel  that,  while  he  is  connected  with 
it,  its  welfare  is  bound  up  with  his  own,  he  ought  to 


SUGGESTIONS  145 

withdraw   from  its   faculty  and  seek  a  position  else- 
where. 

It  is  proper  to  remember  also  that  it  is  good  policy 
for  a  teacher  to  be  loyal.  People  generally  have  not 
much  use  for  a  faultfinder.  The  teacher  who  talks 
about  the  peculiarities  of  a  colleague  or  the  inefficiency 
of  the  headmaster,  with  the  evident  purpose  of  giving 
others  an  unfavorable  opinion  of  them,  is  much  more 
likely  to  injure  himself  in  the  estimation  of  those  who 
hear  him  than  he  is  to  damage  the  reputation  of  those 
whom  he  criticizes.  The  natural  inference  will  be  that 
he  is  himself  not  a  congenial  colleague  and  is  not  a 
pleasant  man  with  whom  to  get  on. 

One  of  the  heavy  burdens  of  the  teacher  who  has 
large  classes  is  the  reading  of  examination  papers  and 
written  exercises.  Regarding  the  reading  of  examina- 
tion papers  not  much  needs  to  be  said,  for  if  an  exami- 
nation is  in  writing,  of  course  the  papers  must  be  very 
carefully  read  by  the  teacher  at  his  convenience,  as 
each  student's  standing,  in  part  at  least,  is  to  be  de- 
termined by  them;  but  the  question  paper  should  be 
so  planned  that  the  written  answers  can  be  read  rap- 
idly, and  their  value  determined  by  an  easy  system. 

One  purpose  of  reading  written  classroom  exercises 
is  to  find  out  how  much  the  student  knows  and  to  de- 
termine his  standing,  but  this  is  only  a  minor  purpose. 
If  the  written  exercise  takes  the  place  of  a  recitation, 
the  student  ought  to  know  whether  his  work  is  right. 
An  instructor  who  is  satisfied  with  hearing  his  boys 
recite  and  does  not  take  the  trouble  to  tell  them  clearly 


146       THE    YOUNG    MAN    AND    TEACHING 

whether  what  they  do  is  right  or  wrong,  fails  in  the 
most  important  part  of  his  duty.  A  daily  written 
exercise  which  is  not  corrected  and  returned,  while  it 
shows  the  instructor,  if  he  reads  it,  how  much  the  boy 
knows,  will  not  be  a  proper  recitation  for  the  student 
because  he  is  not  shown  his  mistakes.  It  is  well  to 
require  some  written  exercises  from  every  class.  They 
give  the  boy  a  task  on  which  he  has  an  opportunity  to 
do  his  best,  and  it  is  good  practice  for  him  to  concen- 
trate his  thoughts  on  an  important  paper  which  must 
be  written  within  a  limited  time.  The  teacher  also 
is  enabled,  if  he  reads  the  exercise  faithfully,  to  get  a 
good  idea  of  the  boy's  ability.  There  are  subjects  in 
which,  from  their  nature,  a  considerable  part  of  the 
work  must  be  written  and  handed  in,  to  be  read  by  the 
teacher  and  handed  back.  When  there  is  no  escape 
from  this,  the  teacher  must  submit  and  plan  to  make  the 
unwelcome  task  as  light  as  possible  for  himself  by  his 
skill  in  setting  a  few  questions  that  are  a  real  test  of 
scholarship. 

The  teacher  who  has  not  grown  wise  by  experience  is 
likely  to  set  too  high  a  value  on  written  exercises.  Per- 
haps he  has  so  many  boys  in  his  class  that  it  is  diffi- 
cult to  call  them  up  often.  He  also  finds  it  pleasanter 
for  him  and  for  them  to  spend  a  considerable  part  of 
the  hour  in  explanation,  and  he  decides  to  give  a  writ- 
ten test  every  day,  intending  to  correct  the  papers  and 
hand  them  back.  If  he  gets  as  far  as  this,  for  his  own 
peace  of  mind,  as  well  as  for  the  good  of  his  students, 
he  must  never  put  off  till  to-morrow  the  reading  of  the 


SUGGESTIONS  147 

papers  that  have  been  handed  in  to-day.  If  he  begins 
to  delay,  the  work  will  pile  up  so  fast  that  he  cannot 
keep  in  sight  of  the  end  of  it.  Every  convenient  place 
in  his  study  will  soon  be  covered  with  unread  exercises, 
and  they  may  last  on  even  into  vacation.  To  read 
papers  in  this  way  is  an  entire  waste  of  time.  Little 
good  comes  to  the  student  from  a  corrected  paper  un- 
less it  is  handed  back  to  him  at  once.  If  he  gets  it  back 
a  month,  or  even  a  week,  after  it  was  written,  it  is  tol- 
erably certain  that  he  will  not  have  enough  interest  left 
to  examine  it  carefully,  and  he  probably  will  not  look 
at  it  at  all. 

In  my  opinion,  many  teachers  spend  altogether  too 
much  time  in  reading  and  correcting  written  classroom 
exercises.  It  is  a  wearisome  and  nerve-racking  task. 
When  a  person  is  hired  to  be  a  reader  of  papers,  and 
nothing  more,  it  makes  no  difference  to  any  one  else 
how  many  hours  a  day  he  spends  upon  it.  If  he  be- 
comes nervous  from  overwork  of  this  kind,  as  he  well 
may,  he  alone  suffers.  But  the  teacher  is  not  employed 
primarily  to  be  a  reader  of  papers,  but  to  teach.  It  is 
his  business  to  give  his  pupils  the  best  instruction  in 
the  classroom  of  which  he  is  capable,  to  keep  them 
interested  in  their  studies,  and  to  be  to  them  a  constant 
inspiration.  He  cannot  do  this  if  he  burdens  himself 
so  heavily  with  duties  outside  the  classroom  that  he  is 
not  able  to  appear  before  them  every  day  with  renewed 
vigor  of  body  and  mind  and  fresh  enthusiasm.  He  is 
not  only  preparing  for  himself  an  unpleasant  job,  but 
is  doing  his  pupils  a  great  wrong  if  he  requires  of  them 


148       THE    YOUNG    MAN    AND    TEACHING 

so  much  written  work  that  a  considerable  part  of  his 
strength  is  taken  up  with  the  task  of  reading  their 
exercises,  so  that  he  comes  in  consequence  to  his  recita- 
tion-room weary  and  dispirited. 

When  the  recitations  were  oral,  as  they  were  in  my 
schooldays,  all  errors  were  corrected  before  the  class, 
and  each  member  was  expected  to  get  a  good  under- 
standing of  the  advance  lesson,  to  note  the  additional 
explanations  of  the  teacher,  and  to  be  able  to  give 
everything  correctly  in  the  review  exercise  of  the  next 
day.  Where  it  is  thought  best  to  make  a  part  of  each 
recitation  written,  it  does  not  seem  difficult  to  devise 
some  plan  for  correcting  the  written  exercises  at  the 
close  of  the  recitation. 

As  one  gets  more  and  more  interested  in  teaching,  and 
has  perhaps  in  addition  some  responsibility  for  ad- 
ministration, there  is  danger  that  he  will  be  satisfied  with 
himself  and  give  up  any  serious  effort  to  add  to  his 
own  mental  equipment.  To  increase  his  mental  power, 
and  even  to  retain  that  power  which  he  already  has, 
he  must  be  a  student  as  well  as  a  teacher.  It  would  not 
be  far  wrong  to  say  that  he  must  be  a  hard  student  in 
order  to  be  a  good  teacher.  If  one  should  spend  a 
half-hour  each  day  in  the  same  kind  of  study  that  he 
did  in  college  under  his  most  exacting  instructor,  his 
mind  would  keep  sharp  and  active,  his  memory  would 
remain  good,  and  he  would  feel  ready  to  undertake 
anything.  A  little  strenuous  exercise  is  as  good  for 
a  sound  mind  as  it  is  for  a  healthy  body.  It  does  not 
matter  so  much  what  the  subject  of  study  is;  the  chief 


SUGGESTIONS  149 

point  is  that  it  be  interesting  to  the  person  who  under- 
takes it  and  that  it  require  fixed  attention;  but  it  is 
desirable  that  the  private  studies  of  a  teacher  be  more  or 
less  directly  connected  with  his  own  subject  of  instruc- 
tion in  order  that  he  may  constantly  enlarge  his  stock 
of  knowledge  in  that  subject,  as  well  as  increase  his 
power  to  impart  it.  A  conscientious  and  ambitious 
teacher  will  not  be  satisfied  to  give  the  same  instruction 
to  his  class  from  year  to  year.  He  will  desire  to  grow 
in  knowledge  and  power  in  order  to  make  his  services 
more  valuable  and  with  the  hope  of  advancement. 

When  a  teacher  feels  entirely  satisfied  with  his  pres- 
ent attainments,  has  no  desire  either  to  grow  or  to 
improve  his  instruction,  thinks  that  he  knows  all  that 
his  work  requires,  and  sees  no  place  wherein  his  teach- 
ing needs  to  be  made  better,  it  is  time  for  him  to  ask 
himself  whether  he  is  not  beginning  to  vegetate  and 
whether  his  work  could  not  be  better  done  by  another 
man  with  more  vigor  and  ambition. 

While  not  neglecting  his  own  special  line  of  work, 
the  teacher  will  find  it  helpful  also  to  have  some  occu- 
pation not  in  any  way  connected  with  his  daily  tasks 
and  so  fascinating  to  him  that  it  will  absorb  his  atten- 
tion when  he  wishes  to  banish  from  his  thought  the  class- 
room and  everything  connected  with  it.  Many  find  it 
profitable  to  pursue  as  a  side  issue  a  favorite  study, 
some  division  of  history  or  literature  perhaps,  or  some 
branch  of  science  which  offers  a  ready  field  for  observa- 
tion, like  botany  or  astronomy.  Some  find  photog- 
raphy well  adapted  to  this  end,  especially  where  there 


150       THE    YOUNG    MAN    AND    TEACHING 

is  included  the  delightful  pleasure  of  developing  the 
plates  or  films.  If  one  takes  along  his  camera  to  pick 
up  the  interesting  things  in  nature,  he  will  combine 
exercise  and  recreation  with  an  absorbing  avocation. 
Some  get  similar  results  from  a  private  workshop  fur- 
nished with  good  tools,  or  from  a  small  piece  of  land 
devoted  to  the  cultivation  and  study  of  fruits  and 
flowers.  Each  one  can  choose  that  which  seems  to  him 
best  for  the  end  desired,  but  I  believe  a  teacher  will 
reach  the  limit  of  his  usefulness  at  an  earlier  age  if 
he  does  not  with  considerable  regularity  allow  himself 
some  intellectual  diversion  of  this  nature. 

No  man  can  expect  success  in  influencing  others  to 
a  right  life  who  is  not  himself  willing  to  follow  the 
rules  which  he  recommends.  This  is  especially  true  of 
the  preacher  and  of  the  teacher.  Both  have  a  pe- 
culiarly sacred  mission:  they  are  devoting  their  lives 
to  the  highest  purpose  known  to  man.  The  end  and  aim 
of  all  their  work  is  to  make  men  better.  All  will  agree 
that  the  minister  is  unfit  for  his  high  calling  if  he  does 
not  practise  what  he  preaches.  The  teacher's  calling 
is  no  less  high,  and  his  influence  comes  at  that  period 
of  life  when  the  foundations  of  character  are  being 
laid.  Is  he  not  under  a  like  obligation  to  be  in  reality 
what  he  would  have  his  pupils  become?  They  will  be 
more  likely  to  imitate  him  than  any  person  outside  their 
own  homes.  If  he  is  habitually  neat,  polite,  punctual 
and  systematic,  they  will  naturally  tend  to  develop  the 
same  traits  of  character. 

I  believe  that  a  master's  own  conduct  should  corre- 


SUGGESTIONS  151 

spond  with  the  moral  principles  which  he  lays  down 
for  the  conduct  of  his  students.  In  daily  life  I  would 
not  allow  myself  indulgence  in  practices  which  were  for- 
bidden to  my  pupils.  If  the  rules  of  the  school  for- 
bade card-playing,  I  would  not  play  cards ;  if  they  for- 
bade theater-going,  I  would  not  go  to  the  theater;  if 
they  forbade  smoking,  I  would  not  smoke.  I  am  not  a 
believer  in  many  rules,  unless  made  by  the  students 
themselves;  but  if  I  thought  it  best  for  the  interest  of 
the  boys  to  make  a  rule  by  which  certain  indulgences 
were  forbidden,  I  would  gladly  deny  myself  the  indul- 
gences which  were  denied  them.  I  know  that  many 
teachers  will  not  agree  with  me  in  this,  but  I  am  firmly 
convinced  that  it  is  the  best  principle  for  us  to  follow. 
I  do  not  believe  it  has  a  good  effect  on  a  boy  to  be 
forbidden  by  a  general  rule  to  do  something  which  he 
wishes  to  do  and  which  he  sees  his  teacher  doing  every 
day.  Is  he  not  likely  to  question  the  sincerity  of  the 
rule  makers,  or  to  have  doubts  about  the  fairness  of 
the  rule?  If  any  practice  is  harmful  for  a  boy,  it  can 
be  no  great  hardship  for  his  teacher  to  abstain  from  it. 

There  should  be  no  insinuations  or  suggestions  in  a 
master's  teaching  which  could  give  offense  to  the  most 
conscientious  of  his  pupils,  nothing  to  lessen  a  boy's 
respect  for  his  early  religious  belief,  whatever  that  be- 
lief may  be. 

The  daily  practice  of  correcting  errors  and  telling 
others  dogmatically  what  is  right  and  what  wrong,  tends 
to  give  one  the  manners  of  a  person  who  has  an  exag- 
gerated idea  of  the  amount  of  his  own  knowledge  and 


152       THE    YOUNG    MAN    AND    TEACHING 

to  make  him  seem  dictatorial  and  sometimes  arrogant 
in  conversation.  One  gets  so  in  the  habit  of  talking 
to  his  pupils  in  an  authoritative  tone  that  before  he 
realizes  it  he  is  talking  to  his  friends  in  the  same  way. 
This  may  be  nothing  more  than  a  habit,  which  does  not 
necessarily  show  that  he  is  really  self-opinionated  or 
lacking  in  respect  for  the  views  of  other  people.  But 
the  man  who  knows  it  all,  who  habitually  corrects  his 
friends'  mistaken  views  and  has  a  solution  for  all  diffi- 
cult questions,  is  in  danger  of  making  many  misstate- 
ments, and  we  do  well  to  be  on  our  guard  lest  we  get 
the  reputation  of  belonging  to  that  class  "  whose  weak- 
ness is  not  that  they  know  so  little  as  that  they  know 
so  much  that  is  not  so." 

A  young  teacher  is  not  a  safe  judge  of  the  quality  of 
his  own  work.  He  may  think  it  better  than  it  really 
is,  and  go  on  too  long  with  this  false  view,  greatly  to 
his  own  disadvantage.  Friends  and  associates  are  very 
ready  to  commend  and  praise,  but  few  have  the  cour- 
age to  offer  unfavorable  criticism,  even  when  there  are 
perfectly  obvious  faults  that  might  be  remedied.  Peo- 
ple do  not  like  to  be  criticized  and  are  apt  to  feel  resent- 
ment when  their  deficiencies  are  suggested.  Hence  criti- 
cism on  the  part  of  friends  is  very  infrequent,  and  we 
learn  our  shortcomings  more  often  from  those  whom 
we  have  offended  and  who  speak  before  they  think,  or 
from  gossips  who  come  to  us  to  relate  what  others  have 
said  about  us.  Even  the  headmaster  will  hesitate  long 
before  he  tells  a  subordinate  his  failings,  being  in  great 
uncertainty  as  to  how  his  criticism  will  be  received.     In 


SUGGESTIONS  153 

many  cases  he  will  prefer  to  let  a  teacher  with  whom  he 
is  not  quite  satisfied  go  at  the  end  of  the  year,  rather 
than  make  an  effort  to  remove  his  faults. 

Therefore  I  think  we  who  are  teachers  ought  to  listen 
in  a  friendly  spirit  to  any  criticism  of  our  work,  from 
whatever  source  it  comes  or  with  whatever  motive  it  is 
given.  We  may  have  a  chance  to  hear  something  about 
ourselves  that  it  will  be  for  our  advantage  to  learn.  A 
colleague,  out  of  sorts  and  irritated  by  something  which 
we  have  said  or  done,  may  free  his  mind  and  tell  us 
facts  that  it  will  do  us  good  to  think  about.  Some 
comment  on  our  way  of  doing  things  may  be  expected 
from  fathers  or  mothers  who  have  been  unfavorably 
influenced  by  the  complaints  of  their  children  and  who 
come  to  us  in  a  manner  uncivil  and  insulting.  It  is  the 
part  of  wisdom  to  treat  all  self-appointed  censors  with 
forbearance,  to  avoid  argument,  and  if  possible  to  get 
some  profit  from  their  words.  Wherein  we  have  been 
at  fault  we  want  to  know,  if  for  no  better  reason,  in 
order  to  prevent  further  unfavorable  criticism. 

If  you  are  not  satisfied  with  the  place  which  you 
now  have,  you  may  wish  to  better  your  condition  by 
a  change  to  another  school.  In  seeking  a  new  position, 
however,  there  are  a  few  points  which  it  is  well  for  one 
to  remember. 

I  have  always  advised  a  dissatisfied  teacher  not  to 
give  up  his  present  place  till  he  is  sure  of  another.  For 
every  vacancy  the  number  of  applicants  is  large,  often 
surprisingly  large,  and  one  who  resigns  with  no  certain 
assurance    of   another   engagement   may   find  himself 


154       THE    YOUNG    MAN    AND    TEACHING 

forced  either  to  accept  a  place  no  better  than  the  one 
he  has  left  or  to  go  without  occupation. 

If  you  should  secure  a  position  which  now  seems  more 
attractive,  it  may  prove  not  to  be  so.  You  know  all 
the  disagreeable  things  connected  with  the  place  in 
which  you  now  are,  and  probably  picture  in  too  bright 
colors  the  advantages  to  be  gained  from  a  change.  You 
may  find  things  just  as  unsatisfactory  and  perhaps 
even  more  annoying,  elsewhere.  It  is  a  good  recom- 
mendation for  a  teacher  that  he  has  remained  for  a  long 
period  in  one  school. 

If  after  due  deliberation  you  decide  to  make  a  change, 
you  must  go  with  the  good-will  of  the  authorities  of 
your  present  school  and  with  a  strong  letter  from  the 
headmaster.  All  the  other  testimonials  which  you  can 
bring  will  not  weigh  as  much  as  the  letter  from  the  man 
under  whose  supervision  you  taught  last.  Certificates 
as  to  scholarship  and  promise,  from  your  former  in- 
structors, are  valuable  when  you  begin;  but  when  you 
have  had  five  or  ten  years'  experience  in  teaching,  a 
school  board  or  a  principal,  in  considering  your  appli- 
cation, will  wish  to  know  most  of  all  what  the  men  who 
have  been  in  close  contact  with  you  during  the  last  year 
think  of  your  personality,  of  your  ability  and  tact,  and 
skill  in  discipline  and  instruction,  of  your  influence  over 
your  pupils,  and  of  your  attitude  as  a  subordinate  and 
a  colleague. 

In  your  correspondence  with  regard  to  an  engage- 
ment, whether  with  principal  or  trustees  or  teachers' 
agencies,  remember  that  one  of  the  strongest  witnesses 


SUGGESTIONS  155 

for  or  against  you  will  be  the  letters  which  you  write. 
Men  in  some  positions  may  without  risk  write  slovenly 
and  illegible  letters,  but  you  cannot.  The  ability  to 
write  a  good  letter,  in  good  English,  in  a  legible  hand, 
with  every  point  clearly  stated,  is  rightly  expected  of 
one  who  claims  to  have  the  qualifications  of  a  teacher. 

Your  first  engagement  to  teach  was  perhaps  secured 
through  applications,  on  the  basis  of  testimonials,  but 
after  you  have  taught  in  one  school  and  established  a 
record  as  teacher  it  is  not  pleasant  to  have  to  secure 
a  new  set  of  recommendations  and  references,  and  make 
application  for  a  position  in  some  other  school.  The 
best  way  to  gain  advancement  is  to  earn  it  by  being  the 
kind  of  teacher  and  doing  the  kind  of  work  which  war- 
rant an  unsolicited  call  to  a  higher  place. 

The  life  of  Dr.  Bancroft  of  Andover  shows  how  much 
a  teacher  or  principal  can  do  as  a  citizen.  He  lived 
for  twenty-eight  years  in  a  New  England  town  which 
had  become  famous  for  its  institutions  of  learning  and 
which  was  the  home  of  many  persons  widely  known  for 
scholarship  and  literary  talent.  While  he  greatly  en- 
joyed the  society  of  these  learned  men,  he  took  special 
pains  to  mingle  freely  with  all  classes  and  showed  that 
he  felt  in  no  way  above  any  fellow-townsman.  He  was 
active  in  town  meetings,  urged  progressive  measures, 
and  helped  secure  many  needed  improvements.  He  came 
to  be  regarded  as  "  the  first  citizen  of  Andover."  When 
the  town  celebrated  the  250th  anniversary  of  its  settle- 
ment, he  was  chosen  without  question  to  be  chairman 
of  the  most  important  committee.     He  served  the  pub- 


156       THE    YOUNG    MAN    AND    TEACHING 

lie  in  positions  of  trust.  He  was  a  director  of  the 
Andover  National  Bank  and  of  the  Merrimack  Insur- 
ance Company,  and  was  appointed  by  the  Governor  of 
Massachusetts  on  the  Board  of  Management  of  the 
State  Hospital  at  Tewksbury. 

The  school  should  not  forget  its  obligation  to  the 
town.  Much  of  its  property  is  exempt  from  taxation, 
yet  the  town  furnishes  it  such  protection  against  fire, 
theft  and  lawlessness  as  it  is  able  to  give.  Probably 
the  greater  part  of  its  endowment  has  been  contributed 
by  citizens  or  natives  of  the  town.  Certainly  the  teach- 
ers of  a  school  ought  to  be  as  much  interested  as  the 
best  citizens  in  having  the  town  in  which  the  school  is 
located  prosperous  and  well  governed. 

It  is  one  of  the  special  privileges  of  the  teacher  to 
be  a  good  citizen.  Every  loyal  citizen  is  under  obliga- 
tion to  work  and  vote  for  measures  that  will  contribute 
to  the  welfare  of  the  community  in  which  he  lives. 
But  the  teacher  by  his  avowed  principles  and  his  per- 
sonal example,  can  help  greatly  to  keep  the  moral 
standard  high  and  the  amusements  wholesome,  and  he 
ought  to  understand  better  than  any  one  else  the  evils 
that  are  hindrances  to  public  progress,  and  how  to 
reach  and  correct  them. 


CHAPTER    X 


FOR    BETTER    SCHOOLS 


The  teachers.  Selection  of  teachers.  Trustees  of  private 
schools.  Boards  of  education.  Lack  of  home  training.  Environ- 
ment. Demand  for  amusement.  The  spirit  of  the  age.  Unfavor- 
able influences  to  be  counteracted  by  the  schools.  Teachers'  views 
of  the  modern  schoolboy.  The  short-cut.  Enervating  habits. 
Athletics  for  younger  boys.  Demand  for  good  teachers  in  the 
rural  schools.  Boyhood  in  the  country.  The  tendency  to  move 
into  the  city.  Importance  to  the  nation  of  an  intelligent  country 
population.  Residence  in  country  towns  made  more  attractive  by 
good  schools.     Education  which  is  complete. 

In  order  to  have  ideal  schools  there  is  need  of  su- 
perior teachers,  competent  trustees  and  boards  of  edu- 
cation, good  home  training,  good  environment,  a  help- 
ful public  spirit,  and  ambitious  students  of  good  char- 
acter, free  from  debilitating  habits. 

There  are  to-day  many  American  teachers  who  are 
as  efficient  as  any  that  the  country  has  had  or  ever  will 
have,  and  many  American  boys  are  being  educated  by 
methods  which  yield  as  good  results  as  any  that  can 
be  devised.  The  vocation  has  rightly  suffered  in  public 
estimation  because  so  many  have  adopted  it  who  have 
not  possessed  the  needed  qualifications.  Some  have 
taken  up  teaching,  because  they  thought  it  a  more  re- 
spectable occupation  than  one  involving  manual  labor, 
some  from  a  mistaken  idea  that  they  had  a  call  to 
teach,   and   some   have   drifted   into   it   because    they 

157 


158       THE    YOUNG    MAN    AND    TEACHING 

could  not  find  anything  else  to  do.  One  cannot  teach 
what  he  does  not  know,  and  the  master  who  has  zeal 
without  knowledge  is  likely  to  give  his  pupils  much 
that  they  will  have  to  unlearn.  On  the  other  hand, 
one  may  take  honors  in  college  and  not  be  an  efficient 
teacher  of  a  class  in  a  subject  which  he  himself  under- 
stands. Uninterested  students  are  as  likely  to  read 
books  and  write  letters  under  a  scholar  who  is  an  in- 
competent teacher,  as  tired  hearers  are  to  sleep  under 
a  theologian  who  is  a  dry  preacher. 

It  is  possible  to  have  good  schools  in  poor  buildings 
and  with  poor  text  books,  but  we  cannot  have  good 
schools  without  good  teachers.  It  is  evident,  then,  that 
the  way  to  keep  the  schools  up  to  a  high  standard  is 
to  eliminate  the  poor  teachers,  and  to  retain  and  pro- 
mote the  best,  giving  them  such  encouragement  to  make 
teaching  their  permanent  profession  that  they  cannot 
be  drawn  away  by  calls  to  any  other  occupation.  The 
illjtempered,  the  sarcastic,  the  listless  and  indifferent 
can  be  spared  without  loss,  and  in  general  those  may  be 
allowed  to  withdraw  who  have  fled  for  refuge  to  teach- 
ing because  they  have  failed  in  other  occupations.  The 
salaries  of  teachers  and  principals  and  superintendents 
must  be  large  enough  to  secure  the  best  men  and  women 
for  the  profession.  Many  persons  who  would  make 
excellent  teachers,  and  who  would  be  glad  to  devote 
their  lives  to  teaching,  now  select  other  occupations 
because  they  cannot  live  comfortably  on  a  teacher's  in- 
come. 

It  is  a  difficult  task  to  pick  from  a  long  list  of  candi- 


FOR    BETTER    SCHOOLS  159 

dates  a  competent  superintendent  or  principal,  and  to 
select  the  right  kind  of  teachers  from  the  numerous 
applicants,  all  of  whom  seem  to  come  about  equally  well 
recommended.  The  only  sure  test  of  fitness  for  teach- 
ing is  experience.  Some  who  seem  to  have  the  neces- 
sary qualifications  fail,  and  many  for  whom  success 
cannot  be  promised  do  well. 

The  trustees  of  a  good  private  school  are,  as  a  rule, 
chosen  on  account  of  some  special  fitness  for  the  duties 
which  they  are  expected  to  perform.  They  serve  with- 
out compensation  and  hold  office  long  enough  to  be- 
come closely  identified  with  the  school  and  to  have  a 
personal  interest  in  it.  They  are  ready  to  pay  sal- 
aries that  will  attract  good  teachers  and  they  have  it 
in  their  power  to  pay  such  salaries  when  the  income  of 
the  school  allows  it.  The  selection  of  teachers  they 
leave  mainly  to  the  headmaster  or  to  a  small  and  compe- 
tent committee  with  whose  decisions  they  do  not  inter- 
fere. These  schools  are  dependent  for  income  mainly 
on  their  patronage,  and  the  trustees  understand  that 
they  must  have  the  best  teachers  that  can  be  secured. 
They  therefore  do  business  on  business  principles. 

On  the  other  hand,  the  public  schools  of  a  city,  both 
primary  and  secondary,  are  supported  by  taxation  and 
are  managed  by  a  board  of  education  which  is  often 
elected  by  the  voters,  many  of  whom  have  little  inter- 
est in  public  education.  This  board  is  expected  to  be 
economical  and  is  not  allowed  to  spend  the  public  money 
without  the  approval  of  some  other  body  which  controls 
the  city  expenditures.     On  such  boards  of  education 


160       THE    YOUNG    MAN    AND    TEACHING 

many  persons  have  served  who  have  been  qualified  for 
the  position,  but  a  valuable  member  is  by  no  means  sure 
to  be  retained,  especially  if  he  has  been  an  advocate  of 
reform  or  of  an  increase  in  the  school  expenses ;  the 
body  is  subject  to  very  frequent  changes,  and  sometimes 
the  whole  board  may  be  replaced  by  another  when  a 
new  political  party  comes  into  power.  A  board  so  con- 
stituted and  limited  cannot,  at  best,  be  as  efficient  as 
a  modern  school  board  ought  to  be  and  is  not  likely 
to  be  composed  largely  of  men  of  sufficient  experience 
and  sufficient  judgment  of  character  to  have  the  re- 
sponsibility of  selecting  superintendent,  principals  and 
the  large  body  of  teachers  needed  in  the  public  schools. 
It  will  often  be  found  that  the  members  of  the  board 
who  know  least  about  the  needs  of  the  schools  will  be 
the  ones  to  have  the  most  to  say  about  their  manage- 
ment. Where  the  board  is  composed  of  men  elected  by 
party  vote  or  appointed  through  political  influence, 
who  are  more  anxious  to  serve  their  party  than  to  serve 
the  public,  the  chances  of  having  good  schools  are  of 
course  very  doubtful.  It  is  so  important  to  have  a 
board  of  education  composed  of  persons  especially  fitted 
for  the  position,  who  will  act  from  no  other  motive  than 
that  of  the  public  good,  and  whose  position  on  the 
board  is  as  secure  as  that  of  a  Justice  of  the  Supreme 
Court,  that  the  time  must  soon  come  when  membership 
in  this  important  office  will  everywhere  be  placed  en- 
tirely beyond  political  control. 

American  children  at  birth  are  not  inferior  to  those 
born  in  Europe,  but  it  is  generally  admitted  that  Amer- 


FOR    BETTER    SCHOOLS  161 

ican  boys  in  the  high  schools  are  at  least  two  years 
behind  English,  French,  and  German  boys  of  the  same 
age,  both  in  intellectual  attainments  and  in  development 
toward  manhood.  If  there  is  this  inferiority  in  the 
period  of  youth,  when  there  was  no  innate  inferiority, 
then  there  must  be  something  lacking  in  the  training 
of  American  children,  and  for  this  the  blame  is  often 
placed  upon  the  schools.  But  this  deficiency  in  develop- 
ment is  due  in  great  part  to  lack  of  discipline  in  the 
home,  to  unfavorable  environment,  to  the  spirit  of  the 
age,  to  enervating  and  debasing  habits,  and  to  other 
influences  which  the  schools,  in  the  nature  of  the  case 
do  not,  and  cannot  control. 

We  cannot  expect  to  have  ideal  schools,  unless  the 
pupils  come  to  us  from  good  homes.  Children  well 
brought  up  at  home  begin  their  education  with  a  good 
preparation.  They  are  easily  taught  to  be  systematic 
in  their  exercises,  and  to  respect  authority.  They 
make  better  progress  in  their  studies,  and  get  better 
mental  and  moral  training.  Our  public  schools  have 
had  a  remarkable  development  during  the  last  half- 
century,  but  there  is  too  little  now  of  that  careful 
home  training  which  prepared  the  children  of  former 
generations  for  the  work  of  the  schoolroom,  and  this 
deficiency  has  thrown  a  heavier  burden  upon  the  teach- 
ers. Before  going  to  college,  I  taught  several  terms 
in  the  district  and  select  schools  of  a  small  town  in 
Massachusetts.  This  was  just  before  and  during  the 
first  year  of  the  Civil  War,  a  time  of  more  than  usual 
mental  activity  in  New  England.     The  children  were 


162       THE    YOUNG    MAN    AND    TEACHING 

ambitious  to  learn,  and  it  required  no  effort  to  make 
them  study.  For  most  of  them  the  town  school,  last- 
ing not  more  than  twenty-four  weeks  in  the  year,  would 
furnish  all  the  education  they  were  expected  to  have. 
They  had  plenty  of  vigorous  exercise,  and  there  was 
no  need  of  artificial  devices  to  amuse  them.  Their 
recreation  was  found  in  the  out-of-door  sports  in  which, 
at  that  period,  young  people  in  the  country  villages 
naturally  engaged. 

It  was  delightful  to  teach  in  such  an  atmosphere. 
The  plain  schoolroom  was  attractive  to  both  teacher 
and  pupils,  because  the  attitude  of  the  pupils  toward 
study  was  almost  ideal.  The  reaction  upon  the  teacher 
was  immediate  and  stimulated  him  to  do  his  best. 

I  kept  up  my  acquaintance  with  a  number  of  these 
pupils  for  many  years.  The  most  of  the  young  men 
who  did  not  lose  their  lives  in  the  Civil  War  became  use- 
ful citizens,  and  many  filled  creditably  more  or  less  im- 
portant public  offices  in  the  towns  where  they  resided. 
The  results  show  that  they  were  well  trained  for  what 
they  had  to  do,  but  it  would  not  be  right  to  give  credit 
for  this  wholly  or  mainly  to  the  schools,  which  could 
not  compare  with  those  of  the  present  day.  Their  one 
great  advantage  was  that  they  were  brought  up  in  good 
homes.  They  were  not  weakened  by  too  much  indul- 
gence, nor  spoiled  by  idleness.  They  were  taught  to 
obey  and  to  work.  They  were  eager  to  learn.  The 
influence  of  the  home  and  the  spirit  of  the  time  gave 
them  the  ambition  to  know  and  to  do.  When  they  had 
finished  their  limited  education,  they  had  before  them 


FOR    BETTER    SCHOOLS  163 

the  example  of  worthy  fathers  and  mothers,  and  they 
started  out  with  no  other  inheritance  to  make  their 
way  in  the  world. 

It  is  unjust  to  throw  the  blame  on  the  public  schools 
because  many  who  have  enjoyed  their  advantages  show 
marked  defects  in  their  character  and  education.  It 
is  not  easy  to  make  a  good  student  out  of  a  boy  who 
comes  from  a  home  where  he  has  been  allowed  to  have 
his  own  way,  or  where  the  only  purpose  of  the  family 
is  to  have  a  good  time.  You  cannot  expect  every  boy 
to  acquire  the  habit  of  speaking  good  English  from  the 
school,  when  so  many  never  hear  it  correctly  spoken 
anywhere  else.  The  teachers  cannot  be  held  respon- 
sible for  the  moral  character  of  children  who  are  con- 
stantly surrounded  by  corrupting  influences  in  their  own 
families  and  on  the  street.  The  schools  are  doing  a 
great  deal  for  children  who  have  not  had  early  advan- 
tages, but  they  cannot  counteract  altogether  the  effects 
of  unfavorable  environment.  The  public  schools  open 
their  doors  to  all  that  come.  They  receive  children 
from  all  sorts  of  homes,  of  many  nationalities,  with 
every  variety  of  inherited  prejudice,  with  all  grades  of 
ability,  with  all  possible  differences  in  disposition,  and 
make  of  the  greater  part  creditable  citizens.  The  won- 
der is  that  the  result  is  so  good. 

There  is  now  among  our  American  people  an  exces- 
sive demand  for  amusement.  The  children  have  no  re- 
sources of  their  own.  They  cannot  be  satisfied  with 
the  natural  enjoyments  of  the  home,  but  continually 
seek  some  outside  excitement  to  keep  them  from  becom- 


164       THE    YOUNG    MAN    AND    TEACHING 

ing  weary  with  life.  Think  how  much  time  most  par- 
ents give  to  clubs,  to  public  entertainments,  to  private 
parties,  to  pleasure  trips !  Amusements  that  formerly 
were  patronized  occasionally  are  now  indulged  in  every 
day.  Games  that  were  once  practiced  for  healthful 
exercise  are  now  played  for  the  entertainment  of  vast 
crowds,  by  men  who  adopt  this  career  as  a  profession. 
Of  course,  where  the  attention  of  parents  and  friends 
is  fixed  so  constantly  on  amusement,  the  thoughts  of  the 
younger  members  of  the  family  must  be  fully  occupied 
by  it  also.  Most  children  nowadays  who  have  anything 
that  can  be  called  a  bringing  up  are  brought  up  to  be 
amused.  That  amusements  take  so  much  time  of  the 
pupils  and  return  them  weary  to  their  tasks  is  not  the 
only  evil;  they  absorb  their  attention  and  become  the 
chief  subject  of  interest,  so  that  studies  are  regarded  as 
of  secondary  importance,  or,  it  may  be,  of  no  impor- 
tance at  all. 

The  schools  are  affected  by  the  spirit  of  the  age,  and 
when  the  tendencies  of  the  people  are  bad  the  schools 
suffer  and  the  teachers  have  so  much  more  to  contend 
with  and  overcome.  There  has  been  a  growing  disre- 
gard for  law  and  authority  among  the  American  peo- 
ple, which  has  had  an  unfortunate  influence  on  the 
young,  who  display  their  independence  in  the  home,  in 
the  school,  on  the  street,  and  in  places  of  public  resort. 
There  is  a  prevalent  desire  to  get  something  for  nothing, 
an  ambition  to  accumulate  property  without  earning  it, 
by  defrauding  other  people  or  by  taking  advantage  of 
their  ignorance  or  weakness  or  inexperience.     The  in- 


FOR    BETTER    SCHOOLS  165 

fluence  of  this  spirit  reaches  down  into  the  schools, 
where  we  too  often  find  a  lack  of  honor  in  dealing  with 
instructors  and  with  rivals  in  sports,  and  too  great 
readiness  to  appropriate  the  property  of  others.  The 
young  get  a  wrong  idea  of  success.  Their  standard 
will  be  the  standard  of  the  men  who  seem  to  them  to 
prosper,  and  prosperity  in  the  eyes  of  a  young  man 
generally  means  easily  gotten  wealth.  There  is  among 
many  a  feeling  that  it  is  more  respectable  to  spend  what 
others  have  accumulated  than  it  is  to  work,  and  that  a 
happy  life  is  one  of  idleness  and  pleasure.  When 
young  people  are  under  the  influence  of  this  feeling,  it 
is  almost  impossible  to  arouse  in  them  an  ambition  for 
the  best  things  or  to  get  them  interested  in  serious  tasks. 
The  teachers,  more  than  any  other  class,  have  it  in 
their  power  to  counteract  wrong  tendencies  among  the 
people,  partly  by  their  indirect  influence  in  the  com- 
munity, but  mostly  by  inculcating  high  standards  of 
conduct  among  their  pupils  and  by  laying  the  foun- 
dations for  a  higher  moral  tone.  The  first  thing  for 
a  pupil  to  learn  is  respect  for  authority  and  ready 
obedience  to  those  who  govern,  including  parents 
and  public  officials,  as  well  as  instructors.  If  right 
influences  prevail  in  the  schools  the  pupils  ought  to 
grow  up  with  the  conviction  that  the  successful  man 
is  not  the  one  who  gets  property  in  questionable 
ways;  that  the  really  happy  life  is  not  the  one 
spent  in  accumulating  a  great  fortune  for  some  one 
else  to  spend,  or  in  spending  the  money  which  some  one 
else  has  earned ;  that  the  best  way  to  spend  a  large  for- 


166       THE    YOUNG    MAN    AND    TEACHING 

tune  is  to  give  it  away  where  it  will  do  the  most  good ; 
that  man's  nature  is  such  that  useful  occupation  is  nec- 
essary to  lasting  happiness ;  and  that  no  man  is  satisfied 
with  life  who  is  not  upright,  honorable  and  trustworthy. 
A  few  years  ago  I  had  some  correspondence  with  sev- 
eral leading  headmasters  and  principals  of  secondary 
schools  for  the  purpose  of  getting  their  views  regarding 
the  quality  of  the  students  whom  they  were  then  sending 
to  college.  There  was  a  general  agreement  that  the 
boys  then  in  school  were  not  lacking  in  inherited  ability, 
but  that  they  were  less  interested  in  study,  less  ambi- 
tious and  more  listless  and  lazy  than  their  fellows  of 
twenty  or  thirty  years  earlier.  I  quote  very  briefly 
from  the  letters  of  four  teachers  of  long  experience : 

(1)  "  The  short-cut  habit  tends  to  narrow  or  superficial 
scholarship.  In  some  cases  it  is  both  narrow  and  super- 
ficial.    Nearly  all  pupils  that  come  to  us  now  are  in  haste." 

(2)  "I  look  with  grave  apprehension  upon  the  tendency 
to  lack  of  thoroughness,  which  results  from  the  attempt  to 
do  in  a  certain  time  more  than  can  be  done  well  by  the 
average  boy/' 

(3)  "  It  is  my  opinion  that  in  general  information,  alert- 
ness and  breadth  of  attainment  the  pupils  of  to-day  are 
superior  to  those  of  ten  years  ago;  but  that  in  exactness  of 
scholarship,  painstaking  effort,  and  concentration  they  are 
inferior.  The  difference  is  due  doubtless  to  the  extension 
of  the  curriculum,  which  requires  attention  to  a  larger 
number  of  subjects  than  formerly,  and  to  the  changes  in 
the  student  life,  which  give  a  larger  part  to  athletics  and 
other  forms  of  student  activity."      • 

(4)  "  Owing  to  the  pernicious  and  almost  universal  habit 
of  cigarette  smoking,  and  the  undue  excitement  in  regard  to 


FOR    BETTER    SCHOOLS  167 

all  branches  of  athletics,  young  men  do  not  do  as  good  work 
as  they  did  formerly,  and  many  are  becoming  totally  unable 
to  do  any  work  in  mathematics  or  in  other  studies  requiring 
close  mental  application.  Unless  the  curse  of  cigarette 
smoking  can  be  abated  by  legal  means  or  otherwise,  the 
intellectual  outlook  for  our  young  men  is  not  encouraging.,, 

When  schools  allow  the  pupils  to  be  forced  beyond 
what  is  wise,  it  is  because  they  are  compelled  to  do  this 
to  satisfy  the  demands  of  parents  or  of  the  taxpayers. 
The  taxpayers  generally  object  to  a  high  school  course 
of  four  years  if  the  work  can  possibly  be  crowded  into 
three,  and  most  parents  seem  anxious  to  save  as  much 
time  as  possible  in  their  sons'  education  for  business  or 
in  preparation  for  college.  When  a  short  cut  to  col- 
lege is  the  chief  end  sought,  it  is  best  to  prepare  for  some 
institution  that  does  not  require  much  for  admission. 
The  powers  of  the  mind,  like  those  of  the  body,  are  de- 
veloped gradually,  and  it  is  a  great  mistake  to  force  a 
boy  to  attempt  more  than  he  can  do  well.  Time  is  an 
important  element  in  education. 

There  is  abundant  evidence  to  show  that  many  of  the 
boys  of  the  present  day  are  forming  habits  that  will 
seriously  affect  their  capacity  to  do  the  hard  work  that 
will  some  time  be  demanded  of  them.  The  youth  who 
impairs  his  strength  by  indulgence  in  enervating  habits 
and  thus  unfits  himself  for  the  duties  and  responsibilities 
of  manhood,  is  not  only  throwing  himself  away  and 
wasting  the  resources  of  his  family,  but  is  inflicting  a 
loss  upon  the  nation,  which  in  its  time  of  need  must  rely 
on   the    character   and   endurance   of   its   young   men. 


168       THE    YOUNG    MAN    AND    TEACHING 

Where  is  the  necessity  of  temperate  and  clean  living  to 
be  taught,  if  not  in  the  homes  and  in  the  schools? 

Systematic  exercise  under  the  guidance  of  a  careful 
trainer  is  good  for  body  and  mind,  but  much  harm  may 
come  to  boys  in  the  secondary  schools  from  exercise 
which  is  too  vigorous  or  too  long  continued.  Games 
between  rival  schools  may  not  seriously  interfere  with 
scholarship;  in  general,  I  do  not  think  they  do.  But 
the  long  and  hard  training  in  preparation,  and  the  in- 
tense exertion  in  a  close  game,  where  each  side  is  ready 
to  make  any  sacrifice  to  win,  may  have  more  serious 
results  than  bruises  and  broken  bones.  Whatever  may 
be  true  of  their  older  brothers  in  college,  such  strain  for 
undeveloped  boys  of  high  school  age  involves  too  great 
risk  of  permanent  bodily  impairment,  especially  of  the 
heart,  which  may  greatly  lessen  the  capacity  for  work 
in  maturer  years  and  shorten  life. 

We  look  for  the  day  when  study  will  again  be  fash- 
ionable, when  the  boy  who  devotes  his  main  attention  to 
the  work  for  which  he  goes  to  school  will  no  longer  be 
sneeringly  referred  to  as  a  "  dig  "  or  a  "  grind,"  when 
scholarship  will  be  as  earnestly  sought  as  prowess  in 
athletic  sports. 

The  teacher  who  is  anxious  to  put  his  life  in  where  he 
can  do  most  for  the  nation  will  find  a  great  field  for 
usefulness  in  connection  with  the  rural  schools.  Much 
has  already  been  done  to  improve  the  educational  ad- 
vantages of  the  country  towns,  but  a  beginning  only  has 
been  made.  The  children  in  the  country  must  have  op- 
portunities for  education  that  will  be  more  nearly  equal 


FOR    BETTER    SCHOOLS  169 

to  those  in  the  cities.  At  present,  one  strong  argument 
against  living  in  small  towns  is  the  inferiority  of  the 
local  schools.  Now  that  so  large  a  proportion  of  the 
teachers  come  from  normal  schools,  the  country  towns 
are  likely  to  get  only  those  that  the  cities  have  no 
room  for,  and  as  soon  as  a  teacher  in  a  rural  school  does 
work  good  enough  to  attract  the  attention  of  the  super- 
intendent, there  almost  invariably  comes  a  call  to  a 
larger  community  and  a  higher  salary  which  it  is  very 
difficult  for  one  with  ambition  to  refuse. 

The  young  man  has  missed  a  great  deal  which  cannot 
be  wholly  made  up,  who  has  been  deprived  of  the  oppor- 
tunities of  boyhood  in  the  country.  The  one  who  grows 
up  in  the  country  gets  a  kind  of  practical  education  out- 
side of  the  schools  which  is  of  very  great  value,  and 
which  sometimes  is  worth  more  to  him  than  what  he  now 
gets  from  his  teachers.  Abundant  exercise  in  the  broad, 
open  fields  makes  him  strong  and  agile,  and  assures  him 
a  good  degree  of  health  and  endurance  in  mature  life. 
He  has  work  to  do  which  is  a  pleasure  because  he  feels 
that  he  is  learning  to  do  what  men  do.  He  takes  pride 
in  being  given  responsibility  for  certain  duties  that  are 
left  to  him.  He  becomes  acquainted  with  machinery 
and  tools  and  learns  how  to  make  things  for  his  own 
use  or  amusement.  He  enjoys  the  freedom  of  the  coun- 
try. He  can  roam  through  the  fields  and  forests  and 
by  the  ponds  and  streams,  and  acquires  by  observation 
a  knowledge  of  animal  and  plant  life.  He  enjoys  the 
singing  of  birds  and  the  sight  of  mountains  and  valleys. 
He  has  constantly  before  him  a  view  of  the  glory  of  sun- 


170       THE    YOUNG    MAN    AND    TEACHING 

rise  and  sunset,  and  of  the  whole  starry  sky  at  night 
down  to  the  horizon  on  every  side.  This  is  vastly  better 
for  his  physical  and  moral  development  than  crowded 
tenements,  noisy  streets,  questionable  shows,  and  the 
chance  companions  of  the  city.  But  he  misses  the  supe- 
rior mental  training  which  boys  of  his  age  in  the  city 
receive. 

The  father  who  has  a  right  appreciation  of  his  obli- 
gations to  his  family  and  to  the  state,  naturally  wishes 
to  give  his  children  a  good  education.  If  he  is  living  in 
a  small  town,  where  the  school  privileges  are  poor,  as 
soon  as  his  children  are  of  school  age  he  begins  to  feel 
dissatisfied  with  his  surroundings  and  seeks  a  situation 
in  a  city,  where  he  himself  will  be  an  unknown  man  in 
the  crowd,  with  few  friends,  and  no  social  standing  to 
be  compared  with  that  which  he  is  leaving,  but  where  his 
children  will  have  the  advantage  of  much  better  schools. 
The  citizen  who  earns  his  support  by  daily  toil  cannot 
afford  private  schools  which  are  open  to  men  of  larger 
means,  though  it  is  no  less  important  to  the  state  that 
his  children  be  properly  educated,  for  children  brought 
up  to  work  and  to  economize  generally  prove  superior 
in  achievement  and  attainment  to  those  brought  up  in 
luxury  and  idleness. 

It  is  of  the  greatest  importance  to  the  nation  that  the 
country  towns  be  occupied  by  thrifty,  intelligent  and 
contented  citizens.  A  vigorous  and  loyal  yeomanry  are 
the  nation's  strength.  Unless  the  future  is  unlike  the 
past,  the  country  towns  will  continue  to  furnish  a  large 
proportion  of  the  leading  men  in  business  and  in  the 


FOR    BETTER    SCHOOLS  171 

professions ;  and  in  case  of  a  great  war  they  must  pro- 
duce young  men  hardy  and  brave  to  fill  up  the  nation's 
armies. 

The  time  must  come  when  the  rural  population  will 
cease  to  crowd  into  the  cities,  and  when  men  of  moderate 
means  living  in  the  cities,  who  value  the  health  and 
happiness  of  their  families  and  who  wish  to  rear  their 
children  amid  wholesome  surroundings,  will  be  willing 
to  leave  the  questionable  attractions  of  city  life  and  seek 
homes  in  the  country,  where  they  may  have  houses  and 
lands  which  they  can  call  their  own.  The  manifold 
conveniences  and  comforts  brought  to  country  homes 
by  modern  inventions  will  do  much  to  encourage  this 
desirable  movement,  but  nothing  will  hasten  it  more  than 
a  large  increase  in  the  school  privileges  open  to  the 
children  in  the  country  towns. 

No  education  approaches  completeness  that  does  not 
develop  body,  mind  and  character.  In  the  early  New 
England  education,  the  chief  aim  was  religious  and 
moral  training,  and  though  on  the  religious  side  too 
much  stress  was  laid  on  doctrine,  yet  the  schools  turned 
out  men  of  strong  character,  who  could  withstand  temp- 
tation. 

Then  there  came  a  time  when  the  only  aim  of  the 
schools  seemed  to  be  the  training  of  the  mind  and  the 
acquisition  of  knowledge,  when  many  teachers  held  the 
view  that  their  sole  mission  was  to  teach  their  subjects, 
and  that  they  were  in  no  way  responsible  for  the 
health  or  morals  or  manners  of  their  students. 

In  more  recent  times  the  chief  emphasis  seems  to  be 


172       THE    YOUNG    MAN    AND    TEACHING 

laid  on  physical  education,  on  health,  muscular  devel- 
opment and  bodily  symmetry.  Boys  are  encouraged  to 
give  much  time  to  gymnastics  and  athletics,  and  neglect 
of  study  is  thought  by  many  preferable  to  the  neglect  of 
physical  training. 

All  these  objects  are  important.  We  are  not  likely 
to  overestimate  any  one  of  the  three,  if  we  do  not  at  the 
same  time  underestimate  the  other  two.  The  school 
must  not  neglect  that  knowledge  which  is  necessary  for 
the  pupils'  health  and  bodily  development.  A  well- 
educated  man  of  ability  and  character  has  less  chance 
of  doing  a  man's  work  in  the  world  if  he  is  burdened  by 
ill-health.  The  studies  must  not  be  slighted,  for  the 
men  who  can  think  and  plan  are  to  be  the  men  of  power 
and  influence.  But  the  highest  end  of  all  instruction 
and  discipline  is  character.  Our  students  must  become 
men  who  will  keep  the  commandments,  who  cannot  be 
tempted  to  do  wrong  by  promise  of  personal  advantage. 
If  a  bright  pupil  turns  out  to  be  a  bad  man,  all  that 
has  been  done  to  make  him  strong  in  body  and  mind 
only  helps  him  to  become  a  greater  curse  to  society. 
Life  and  health  are  worth  more  to  the  individual  than 
mental  culture,  but  what  will  a  man's  physical  strength 
and  intellectual  power  be  worth  to  the  nation  if  his 
purposes  are  only  bad? 


CHAPTER  XI 

GREAT    TEACHERS 

The  school  is  what  the  master  makes  it.  Some  characteristics 
of  great  masters.  Ezekiel  Cheever  of  the  Boston  Latin  School. 
Samuel  Moody  of  Dummer  Academy.  Thomas  Arnold  of  Rugby. 
Benjamin  Abbott  and  Gideon  L.  Soule  of  Phillips-Exeter  Acad- 
emy. Francis  Gardner  of  the  Boston  Latin  School.  Samuel  H. 
Taylor  of  Phillips  Academy,  Andover.  Cecil  F.  P.  Bancroft  of 
Phillips  Academy,  Andover.    John  Meigs  of  the  Hill  School. 

The  great  headmaster  gives  a  school  a  reputation 
which  lasts  long  after  his  connection  with  it  is  ended. 
Age,  tradition,  location,  endowment,  buildings,  fields  for 
out-door  pastime  may  do  much  for  a  school,  but  it  is  the 
headmaster  who  makes  it  what  it  is.  That  teacher  is 
worthy  of  a  great  name  who  has  such  a  talent  for  man- 
aging and  teaching  boys  that  he  sends  them  forth  with  a 
complete  preparation  for  a  higher  institution  of  learn- 
ing and  with  a  character  which  will  enable  them  to  meet 
successfully  the  tests  both  of  college  and  of  after  life. 

In  the  following  pages  will  be  found  brief  sketches  of 
a  very  few  teachers  who  have  shown  unusual  capacity 
for  managing  boys.  The  sketches  are  made  up  mostly 
of  quotations  from  books  or  addresses  prepared  by 
those  who  have  been  their  pupils  or  associates.  These 
teachers  had  their  personal  peculiarities,  but  in  some 
respects  they  were  much  alike.  All  were  strict  disci- 
plinarians, and  sometimes  severe,  or  apparently  severe ; 

173 


174       THE    YOUNG    MAN    AND    TEACHING 

but  all  were  kind-hearted  and  sympathetic.  Some  of 
these  men  were  not  broad  scholars,  but  all  were  com- 
plete masters  of  the  subjects  which  they  taught,  and 
therefore  commanded  the  respect  of  their  pupils  for 
their  learning.  All  had  qualities  which  enabled  them  to 
create  enthusiasm  for  study  and  to  secure  obedience. 
All  had  pronounced  views  on  the  best  methods  of  instruc- 
tion and  discipline,  and  followed  their  own  principles, 
uninfluenced  by  criticism.  All  freely  dismissed  pupils 
whose  presence  was  harmful  to  the  school.  All  were  left 
free  by  the  trustees  to  manage  the  school  in  their  own 
way. 

EZEKIEL  CHEEVER 
Master  of  the  Boston  Latin  School,  1670-1708 

Ezekiel  Cheever  was  called  by  Henry  Barnard  "  the 
Father  of  Connecticut  School-masters,  the  Pioneer,  and 
Patriarch  of  elementary  classical  culture  in  New  Eng- 
land." He  was  the  son  of  a  linen-draper,  was  born  in 
London,  England,  January  25,  1614.  There  is  a  tra- 
dition that  he  was  a  pupil  at  St.  Paul's  School  in  Lon- 
don. A  note  on  the  Register  shows  that  he  was  entered 
at  Emmanuel  College,  Cambridge,  January  12,  1632— 
33.  Wherever  he  may  have  studied,  he  received  an 
excellent  classical  training.  He  came  to  America  in 
order  to  enjoy  freedom  of  worship,  arriving  in  Boston 
in  June,  1637.  In  the  following  year  he  went  with 
John  Davenport  and  Theophilus  Eaton  to  Quinnipiac, 
and  assisted  in  planting  the  colony  and  church  of  New 
Haven.     He  began  his  career  as  schoolmaster  in  1638 


GREAT    TEACHERS  175 

and  taught  in  New  Haven  twelve  years.  In  November, 
1650,  as  a  result  of  trouble  with  the  New  Haven  church, 
he  removed  to  Ipswich,  Massachusetts,  where  he  re- 
mained eleven  years  and  made  the  Ipswich  school  "  fa- 
mous in  all  the  country,"  and  was  mainly  instrumental 
in  placing  that  town  "  in  literature  and  population 
above  all  the  towns  of  Essex  County."  From  1661  to 
1670  he  taught  the  grammar  school  in  Charleston.  In 
1670,  at  the  age  of  fifty-six,  an  age  at  which  many 
teachers  are  ready  to  retire  from  active  service,  he  re- 
moved to  Boston,  where  he  was  master  of  the  Boston 
Latin  School  for  thirty-eight  years.  When  he  closed 
his  long  period  of  service,  the  Boston  Latin  School  was 
"  the  then  only  Publick  and  Free  Grammar  School  of 
this  Great  Town,  the  Principal  School  of  the  British 
Colonies,  if  not  of  all  America."  1 

His  Accidence,  A  Short  Introduction  to  the  Latin 
Tongue,  written  during  his  residence  in  New  Haven, 
reached  its  twentieth  edition  in  1785.  It  was  used  for 
more  than  one  hundred  and  fifty  years.  In  a  com- 
mendatory letter  printed  in  an  edition  published  in 
1838,  President  Quincy  of  Harvard  College  said :  "  It 
is  distinguished  for  simplicity,  comprehensiveness,  and 
exactness ;  and,  as  a  primer  or  first  elementary  book,  I 
do  not  believe  it  is  exceeded  by  any  other  work,  in  re- 
spect to  those  important  qualities."  In  another  letter 
printed  in  the  same  edition,  Samuel  Walker,  a  well-known 
teacher  of  Latin,  wrote :     "  The  Latin  Accidence,  which 

i  Prince,  Funeral  Sermon  on  Mr.  Nathaniel  Williams  [the  suc- 
cessor of  Mr.  Cheever]. 


176       THE    YOUNG    MAN    AND    TEACHING 

was  the  favorite  little  book  of  our  youthful  days,  has 
probably  done  more  to  inspire  young  minds  with  the 
love  of  the  study  of  the  Latin  language  than  any  other 
work  of  the  kind  since  the  first  settlement  of  the  coun- 
try. I  have  had  it  in  constant  use  for  my  pupils,  when- 
ever it  could  be  obtained,  for  more  than  fifty  years,  and 
have  found  it  to  be  the  best  book,  for  beginners  in  the 
study  of  Latin,  that  has  come  to  my  knowledge.  And 
no  work  of  the  kind  have  I  ever  known,  that  contains  so 
much  useful  matter  in  so  small  a  compass." 

President  Stiles  in  his  Diary  has  two  entries  about 
Mr.  Cheever: 

"  April  25,  1772.  The  Revd.  and  aged  Mr.  Samuel  Max- 
well of  Warren,  was  at  the  Fast  at  Bristol.  He  was  born 
I  think  1688.  He  told  me  he  well  knew  the  famous 
Grammar  School  Master  Mr.  Ezekiel  Cheever  of  Boston, 
Author  of  the  Accidence :  that  he  wore  a  long  white  Beard 
terminating  in  a  point;  that  when  he  stroked  his  Beard  to 
the  point,  it  was  a  sign  to  the  Boys  to  stand  clear.1 

"  July  17,  1774.  Read  Dr.  Mathers  sermon  on  the  Death 
of  Mr.  Ezekiel  Cheever.  He  had  been  the  most  eminent 
Grammar  School  Master  for  above  70  years.  .  .  .  He  was 
a  pious  and  learned  Divine  as  well  as  Praeceptor.  He  wore 
his  Beard  to  the  day  of  his  Death.  He  very  much  formed 
and  established  the  New  England  Pronunciation  of  Latin 
and  Greek.  He  printed  an  English  Accidence  still  in  use. 
The  Hair  of  his  Head  and  Beard  were  white  as  Snow. 
'  He  died  leaning  like  old  Jacob  upon  a  Staff;  the  Sacrifice 
and  the  Righteousness  of  a  glorious  Christ,  he  let  us  know 
was  the  golden  Staff  which  he  leaned  upon  ' —  I  have  seen 

i  Dexter,  The  Literary  Diary  of  Ezra  Stiles,  New  York,  1901, 
Vol.  I,  pp.  227-228. 


GREAT    TEACHERS  177 

those  who  knew  the  venerable  old  Saint;  and  particularly 
Rev.  John  Barnard  of  Marblehead  who  was  fitted  for  Col- 
lege by  Mr.  Cheever  and  entered  1696.  It  is  said  that  if  he 
stroked  his  Beard,  upon  his  Boys  doing  ill,  it  was  a  certain 
Sign  of  Severity."  * 

Mr.  Cheever  died  on  Saturday  morning,  August  21, 
1708.  He  was  "  venerable  not  merely  for  his  great  age 
(94),  but  for  having  been  the  schoolmaster  of  most  of 
the  principal  gentlemen  in  Boston,  who  were  then  upon 
the  stage."  2  In  Judge  Sewall's  Diary  there  are  entries 
on  the  days  of  his  death  and  burial.  "  August  21, 
1708.  Mr.  Edward  Oakes  tells  me  Mr.  Cheever  died  this 
last  night.  He  was  born  January  25th,  1614.  Came 
over  to  N.E.  1637,  to  Boston:  to  New-Haven  1638. 
Married  in  the  Fall,  and  began  to  teach  School,  which 
Work  he  was  constant  in  till  now:  ...  so  that  he  has 
Labour'd  in  that  Calling,  Skillfully,  diligently,  con- 
stantly, Religiously,  Seventy  years.  A  rare  instance  of 
Piety,  Health,  Strength,  Serviceableness.  The  Welfare 
of  the  Province  was  much  upon  his  Spirit.  He  abomi- 
nated perriwigs."  "  August  23.  Mr.  Cheever  was 
buried  from  the  School  house.  The  Govr,  Councillors, 
Ministers,  Justices,  Gentlemen  there.  Mr.  Williams  3 
made  a  handsome  Latin  oration  in  his  Honor." 

Cotton  Mather  preached  a  funeral  discourse  on  Mr. 
Cheever,  which  he  published  with  a  Historical  Introduc- 

i  Ibid.,  pp.  449-450. 

2  Hutchinson's  History  of  Massachusetts,  London,  1768,  Vol.  II, 
p.  175,  note. 

s  Mr.  Cheever's  successor  as  Headmaster  in  the  Boston  Latin 
School. 


178       THE    YOUNG    MAN    AND    TEACHING 

tion.     From  this  pamphlet  the  following  passages  are 
taken : 

"  We  generally  concur  in  acknowledging,  that  New  Eng- 
land has  never  known  a  better  Master.  I  am  sure,  I  have 
as  much  reason  to  appear  for  him,  as  ever  Crito  for  his  mas- 
ter Socrates.  He  had  been  a  Skillful,  Painful,  Faithful 
Schoolmaster  for  Seventy  Years,  and  had  the  Singular  favor 
of  Heaven,  that  though  he  had  Usefully  spent  his  Life 
among  Children,  yet  he  was  not  become  Twice  a  Child,  but 
held  his  Abilities,  with  his  Usefulness  in  an  unusual  Degree, 
to  the  very  last.  .  .  .  His  Eminent  Abilities  for  the  Work 
which  rendered  him  so  long  Useful  in  his  Generation,  were 
universally  acknowledged,  and  it  was  noted  that  when 
Scholars  came  to  be  Admitted  into  Colledge,  they  who  came 
from  the  Cheeverian  Education  were  generally  the  most  un- 
exceptionable. .  .  .  He  that  was  my  Master  Seven  and 
Thirty  years  ago  was  a  Master  to  many  of  my  Betters  no 
less  than  Seventy  Years  ago;  so  long  ago,  that  I  must  even 
mention  my  father's  Tutor  for  one  of  them.  .  .  .  He  lived 
as  a  Master  the  Term  which  has  been  for  above  three  thou- 
sand years  assigned  for  the  Life  of  Man.  He  continued 
unto  the  Ninety  Fourth  year  of  his  Age,  an  unusual  instance 
of  Liveliness,  his  Intellectual  Force  as  little  abated  as  his 
Natural." 

SAMUEL  MOODY 

Master  of  Dummer  Academy,  South  Byfield,  Mass. 
1763-1790 

Samuel  Moody,  son  of  Rev.  Joseph  Moody,  was  born 
in  1726  in  York,  at  that  time  a  town  in  Massachusetts, 
but  now  in  Maine.  He  was  graduated  from  Harvard 
College  in  1746.     He  came  to  Byfield  from  York,  where 


GREAT    TEACHERS  179 

he  had  been  master  of  the  grammar  school  for  sixteen 
years,  and  had  given  it  a  wide  reputation  for  thorough- 
ness. He  began  to  teach  at  Dummer  School,  March  1, 
1763.  In  1782  this  school  was  incorporated  as  Dum- 
mer Academy,  by  Act  of  the  General  Court. 

Among  his  earliest  pupils  was  Samuel  Phillips,  who 
was  graduated  from  Harvard  College  in  1771  and 
seven  years  later  projected  Phillips  Academy  at  An- 
dover.  Master  Moody  fitted  about  seventy  boys  for 
college  at  Dummer  School,  before  the  Academies  at  An- 
dover  and  Exeter  were  opened.  He  continued  at  the 
head  of  the  institution  for  more  than  twenty-seven  years 
and  gave  instruction  to  five  hundred  and  twenty-five 
boys.  He  resigned  in  1790,  and  died  in  Exeter,  N.  H., 
December  14?,  1795,  in  his  seventieth  year. 

Some  traditions  relating  to  Mr.  Moody's  characteris- 
tics and  to  his  methods  of  teaching  have  been  preserved 
in  addresses  delivered  at  the  Academy  on  anniversary 
occasions : 

"  I  have  no  reason  to  think  that  his  scholarship  extended 
over  a  wide  range  of  subjects.  ...  It  was  in  Latin  and 
Greek  —  especially  the  former  —  that  his  strength  as  a 
scholar  and  teacher  mainly  lay.  .  .  .  There  is  no  reason 
to  suppose  that  he  had  read  many  of  the  ancient  authors. 
...  To  fit  his  boys  for  College  and  to  fit  them  well,  was  his 
ambition  and  pride.  .  .  .  His  acquaintance  with  the  text- 
books necessary  to  this  end  was  minute,  thorough  and  re- 
markably exact.  Within  those  limits  he  was  always  and 
everywhere  at  home;  so  far,  at  least,  no  question  of  inter- 
pretation, of  syntax,  or  of  prosody,  ever  found  him  unpre- 
pared.    These   habits    of   accuracy,   of   readiness,   and   of 


180       THE    YOUNG    MAN    AND    TEACHING 

freshness,  he  kept  up  by  constant  exercise  and  unremitted 
application.  One  fact  —  incredible  as  it  seems  —  I  had 
from  authentic  sources.  He  was  in  the  habit  of  studying 
the  French  and  Latin  dictionaries,  in  regular  course  from 
A  to  Z. 

"  His  views  of  order  in  a  schoolroom  differed  from  those 
which  usually  prevail.  Silence,  there,  he  thought,  was 
more  distracting  than  noise.  Accordingly,  he  not  only  per- 
mitted, but  encouraged  his  scholars  to  study  audibly.  The 
buzz  of  sixty  or  seventy  boys  loudly  conning  their  vari- 
ous tasks,  not  only  filled  the  room,  but  could  be  heard  at 
some  distance  from  the  house.  Newcomers  unused  to  the 
practice  were  disturbed  at  first,  but  soon  fell  in  with  the 
current,  and  liked  it  well.  This  confused  murmur  made 
the  recitation  of  classes  and  remarks  of  teachers  inaudible 
to  the  rest,  and  thus  favored  abstraction  and  attention.  .  .  . 

"  I  have  no  reason  to  think  that  his  discipline  was  uniform 
or  always  judicious.  Wayward  and  impulsive,  he  some- 
times failed  to  control  himself.  But  youth  can  appreciate, 
and  not  unwillingly  forgives,  even  the  passionate  outbreaks 
of  an  honest,  kindly,  whole-souled  instructor.  For  the 
indolent  and  vicious  he  had  a  large  and  diversified  list  of 
penalties,  some  of  which  were  amusing  to  the  lookers-on,  if 
not  always  to  the  culprits.   .   .   . 

"  Though  he  lived  long  before  the  days  of  gymnastic  ap- 
paratus and  instruction,  he  looked  carefully  after  the 
amusements,  the  health,  and  the  safety  of  his  boys.  In 
the  matter  of  bathing  his  regulations  were  strict  and  pe- 
culiar. The  time  and  the  place  were  fixed  by  him.  The 
state  of  the  tide  was  carefully  observed,  and  if  the  favorable 
moment  happened  to  come  in  the  midst  of  school  hours,  he 
suspended  work  for  a  while,  and  sent  the  boys  out  to 
bathe/' 

Nehemiah    Cleaveland,    The   First   Century    of 
Dummer  Academy,  August  12,  1863,  pp.  24-26. 


GREAT    TEACHERS  181 

"  My  grandfather,  Dr.  Daniel  Noyes  Poore,  was  one  of 
those  prepared  for  college  by  Master  Moody,  and  I  have 
often  heard  him  describe  the  good  old  pedagogue,  wearing 
a  long  green  flannel  morning  gown  and  velvet  smoking  cap, 
with  an  assortment  of  instruments  of  punishment  on  his 
desk,  the  ferrula,  the  long  flat  rule,  and  several  switches, 
the  heaviest  being  for  the  oldest  boys." 

Maj.   Ben:  Perley   Poore,  in  an  address  at 
Dummer  Academy,  October  22,  1885,  p.  12. 

"  The  reputation  of  Master  Moody  as  a  successful  in- 
structor has  not  been  surpassed,  if  it  has  been  equaled,  by 
that  of  any  other  teacher  in  the  commonwealth.  He  pos- 
sessed a  wonderful  power  of  control  of  boys,  and  of  inter- 
esting them  in  their  work.  He  aroused  and  stimulated 
their  manly  instincts.  Severely  just  and  impartial  in  his 
treatment  of  all,  exhibiting  in  his  life  and  conversation 
the  best  example  of  true  manliness  and  of  purity  and  no- 
bility of  character,  comprehending  instinctively  all  the 
springs  of  action  in  youth,  he  governed  his  pupils  in  such 
a  kindly  and  paternal  manner,  yet  by  such  efficient  means, 
as  to  secure  for  him  the  love  and  respect  of  all.  In  his 
later  days  he  often  referred  with  pride  to  the  fact  that 
for  a  term  of  years  while  he  was  master  of  the  school  he 
never  resorted  to  the  use  of  the  rod  as  an  instrument  of 
discipline.  His  great  characteristic  as  a  teacher  was  his 
very  thorough  and  accurate  instructions.  What  was  to  be 
learned  must  be  learned  perfectly." 

William  Dummer  Northend,  in  an  address  at 
Dummer  Academy,  June  19,  1888,  pp.  36-37. 

Master  Moody  lies  buried  in  the  old  cemetery  in  York, 
Maine.  The  somewhat  unusual  inscription  on  the  plain 
stone  which  marks  his  grave  sums  up  well  the  character 
and  influence  of  this  early  teacher: 


182       THE    YOUNG    MAN    AND    TEACHING 

Integer  vitae  scelerisque  purus, 

SAMUEL  MOODY,  ESQ. 
Preceptor  of  Dummer  Academy 
The  first  Institution  of  its  kind  in  Massachusetts. 
He  left  no  child  to  mourn  his  sudden  death, 
(for  he  died  a  bachelor,) 
Yet  his  numerous  pupils  in  the   United   States   will  ever 
retain  a  lively  sense  of  the  sociability,  industry, 
integrity,  and  piety  he  possessed  in  an  un- 
common degree;  as  well  as  the  disinter- 
ested, zealous,  faithful,  and  useful 
manner  he  discharged  the 
duties  of  the  Academy 
for  thirty  years 
He  died  at  Exeter  Dec.  14,  1795 
Aged  seventy. 


THOMAS  ARNOLD 

Headmaster  of  Rugby,  1828-1842 

Thomas  Arnold  has  bad  a  wide  influence  on  American 
teachers  and  American  secondary  schools.  He  was 
called  to  be  headmaster  of  Rugby  when  the  English  pub- 
lic schools  were  subject  to  severe  criticism  on  account  of 
their  limited  range  of  studies  and  their  unsatisfactory 
moral  tone.  His  great  purpose  was  to  make  Rugby  a 
place  of  really  Christian  education,  where  boys  would 
receive  thorough  intellectual  training  and  where  the 
atmosphere  would  be  such  that  they  would  grow  up  to 
be  Christian  men.  He  was  a  man  of  intensely  religious 
character,  and  influenced  his  pupils  greatly  by  his  ad- 


GREAT    TEACHERS  183 

dresses  in  the  school  chapel.  During  his  fourteen  years 
as  headmaster  of  Rugby  he  brought  about  changes  in 
the  school  life  which  affected  all  the  public  schools  of 
England. 

He  was  born  June  13,  1795,  at  West  Cowes,  Isle  of 
Wight.  He  was  a  schoolboy  at  Warminster  and  later 
at  Winchester.  In  1811  he  was  elected  Scholar  at  Cor- 
pus Christi  College  at  Oxford.  Four  years  later  he 
was  elected  Fellow  of  Oriel  College,  Oxford,  where  he 
continued  his  studies  till  1819,  when  he  established  him- 
self as  a  private  teacher  at  Laleham,  taking  not  more 
than  seven  or  eight  young  men  at  a  time,  and  preparing 
them  for  the  universities.  He  became  headmaster  of 
Rugby  in  August,  1828. 

Dr.  Arnold  died  suddenly,  from  a  disease  of  the  heart, 
on  Sunday  morning,  June  12,  1842,  at  the  close  of  his 
forty-seventh  year. 

Before  his  appointment  at  Rugby  he  thus  expressed 
his  views  regarding  the  duties  of  the  master  of  a  great 
school : 

"  I  confess  that  I  should  very  much  object  to  undertake 
a  charge  in  which  I  was  not  invested  with  pretty  full  dis- 
cretion. According  to  my  notions  of  what  large  schools 
are,  founded  on  all  I  know  and  all  I  have  ever  heard  of 
them,  expulsion  should  be  practiced  much  oftener  than  it  is. 
Now,  I  know  that  trustees,  in  general,  are  averse  to  this 
plan,  because  it  has  a  tendency  to  lessen  the  numbers  of  the 
school,  and  they  regard  quantity  more  than  quality.  In 
fact,  my  opinion  on  this  point  might,  perhaps,  generally  be 
considered  as  disqualifying  me  for  the  situation  of  master  of 
a  great  school ;  yet  I  could  not  consent  to  tolerate  much  that 


184 


THE    YOUNG    MAN    AND    TEACHING 


I  know  is  tolerated  generally,  and,  therefore,  I  should  not 
like  to  enter  on  an  office  which  I  could  not  discharge  accord- 
ing to  my  own  views  of  what  is  right.  I  do  not  believe 
myself,  that  my  system  would  be,  in  fact,  a  cruel  or  a 
harsh  one,  and  I  believe  that  with  much  care  on  the  part  of 
the  masters,  it  would  be  seldom  necessary  to  proceed  to 
the  ratio  ultima;  only  I  would  have  it  clearly  understood, 
that  I  would  most  unscrupulously  resort  to  it,  at  whatever 
inconvenience,  where  there  was  a  perseverance  in  any  habit 
inconsistent  with  a  boy's  duties.  .  .  .** 

Stanley,  Life  and  Correspondence  of  Thomas 
Arnold,  New  York,  1887,  Vol.  I,  p.  86. 

A  few  years  later,  in  a  letter  to  one  of  the  assistant 
masters,  he  thus  expressed  his  indifference  to  criticism: 

"  I  do  not  choose  to  discuss  the  thickness  of  Praeposters' 
sticks,  or  the  greater  or  less  blackness  of  a  boy's  bruises, 
for  the  amusement  of  all  the  readers  of  the  newspapers ;  nor 
do  I  care  in  the  slightest  degree  about  the  attacks,  if  the 
masters  themselves  treat  them  with  indifference.  If  they 
appear  to  mind  them,  or  to  fear  their  effect  on  the  school, 
the  apprehension  in  this,  as  in  many  other  instances,  will 
be  likely  to  verify  itself.  For  my  own  part,  I  confess  that 
I  will  not  condescend  to  justify  the  school  against  attacks, 
when  I  believe  it  is  going  on  not  only  not  ill,  but  positively 
well.  Were  it  really  otherwise,  I  think  I  should  be  as  sen- 
sitive as  any  one,  and  very  soon  give  up  the  concern.  But 
these  attacks  are  merely  what  I  bargained  for,  so  far  as 
they  relate  to  my  conduct  in  the  school,  because  they  are 
directed  against  points  on  which  my  '  ideas  '  were  fixed 
before  I  came  to  Rugby,  and  are  only  more  fixed  now ;  e.  g., 
that  the  authority  of  the  Sixth  Form  is  essential  to  the  good 
of  the  school,  and  is  to  be  upheld  through  all  obstacles  from 
within  and  from  without,  and  that  sending  away  boys  is  a 


GREAT    TEACHERS  185 

necessary  and  regular  part  of  a  good  system,  not  as  a 
punishment  to  one,  but  as  a  protection  to  others.  Un- 
doubtedly it  would  be  a  better  system  if  there  was  no  evil; 
but  evil  being  unavoidable  we  are  not  a  jail  to  keep  it  in, 
but  a  place  of  education  where  we  must  cast  it  out,  to  pre- 
vent its  taint  from  spreading.  Meanwhile  let  us  mind  our 
own  work,  and  try  to  perfect  the  execution  of  our  own 
'  ideas,'  and  we  shall  have  enough  to  do,  and  enough  al- 
ways to  hinder  us  from  being  satisfied  with  ourselves." 

Ibid.,  p.  124. 

Dean  Stanley,  in  his  biography,  thus  describes  his 
methods  of  dealing  with  his  pupils  in  the  matter  of 
instruction : 

1  His  whole  method  was  founded  on  the  principle  of 
awakening  the  intellect  of  every  individual  boy.  Hence  it 
was  his  practice  to  teach  by  questioning.  As  a  general  rule, 
he  never  gave  information,  except  as  a  kind  of  reward  for  an 
answer,  and  often  withheld  it  altogether,  or  checked  him- 
self in  the  very  act  of  uttering  it,  from  a  sense  that  those 
whom  he  was  addressing  had  not  sufficient  interest  or  sym- 
pathy to  entitle  them  to  receive  it.  His  explanations  were 
as  short  as  possible  —  enough  to  dispose  of  the  difficulty 
and  no  more;  and  his  questions  were  of  a  kind  to  call  the 
attention  of  the  boys  to  the  real  point  of  every  subject,  and 
to  disclose  to  them  the  exact  boundaries  of  what  they  knew 
or  did  not  know.  With  regard  to  younger  boys,  he  said, 
'  It  is  a  great  mistake  to  think  that  they  should  understand 
all  they  learn;  for  God  has  ordered  that  in  youth  the  mem- 
ory should  act  vigorously,  independent  of  the  understand- 
ing —  whereas  a  man  cannot  usually  recollect  a  thing  un- 
less he  understands  it.'  But  in  proportion  to  their  advance 
in  the  school  he  tried  to  cultivate  in  them  a  habit  not  only 
of  collecting  facts,  but  of  expressing  themselves  with  fa- 


186       THE    YOUNG    MAN    AND    TEACHING 

cility,  and  of  understanding  the  principles  on  which  their 
facts  rested.  '  You  come  here/  he  said,  '  not  to  read,  but 
to  learn  how  to  read';  and  thus  the  greater  part  of  his 
instructions  were  interwoven  with  the  process  of  their 
own  minds;  there  was  a  continual  reference  to  their 
thoughts,  an  acknowledgment  that,  so  far  as  their  informa- 
tion and  power  of  reasoning  could  take  them,  they  ought  to 
have  an  opinion  of  their  own." 

Ibid,  p.  133. 

The  following  quotations  from  Tom  Brown's  School 
Days  relate  to  his  ideas  of  discipline  and  the  influence 
of  his  Chapel  talks  : 

"  We  looked  upon  every  trumpery  little  custom  and  habit 
which  had  obtained  in  the  school  as  though  it  had  been  a 
law  of  the  Medes  and  Persians  and  regarded  the  infringe- 
ment or  variation  of  it  as  a  sort  of  sacrilege.  And  the  Doc- 
tor, than  whom  no  man  or  boy  had  a  stronger  liking  for  the 
old  school  customs  which  were  good  and  sensible,  had,  as 
has  already  been  hinted,  come  into  most  decided  collision 
with  several  which  were  neither  the  one  nor  the  other.  And 
as  old  Brooke  had  said,  when  he  came  into  collision  with 
boys  or  customs,  there  was  nothing  for  them  to  do  but  to 
give  in  or  take  themselves  off;  because  what  he  said  had 
to  be  done,  and  no  mistake  about  it.  And  this  was  begin- 
ning to  be  pretty  clearly  understood;  the  boys  felt  that 
there  was  a  strong  man  over  them,  who  would  have  things 
his  own  way ;  and  hadn't  yet  learned  that  he  was  a  wise  and 
loving  man  also.  His  personal  character  and  influence  had 
not  had  time  to  make  itself  felt,  except  by  a  very  few  of 
the  bigger  boys  with  whom  he  came  more  directly  in  con- 
tact ;  and  he  was  looked  upon  with  great  fear  and  dislike  by 
the  great  majority  even  of  his  own  house.  For  he  had 
found  School,  and  Schoolhouse,  in  a  state  of  monstrous  li- 


GREAT    TEACHERS  187 

cence  and  misrule,  and  was  still  employed  in  the  necessary 
but  unpopular  work  of  setting  up  order  with  a  strong  hand/' 
Tom  Brown's  School  Days,  G.  P.  Put- 
nam's Sons,  New  York,  1913,  p.  110. 

"  But  what  was  it  after  all  which  seized  and  held  these 
three  hundred  boys,  dragging  them  out  of  themselves,  will- 
ing or  unwilling,  for  twenty  minutes,  on  Sunday  after- 
noons? True,  there  always  were  boys  scattered  up  and 
down  the  School,  who  in  heart  and  head  were  worthy  to 
hear  and  able  to  carry  away  the  deepest  and  wisest  words 
there  spoken.  But  these  were  a  minority  always,  generally 
a  very  small  one,  often  so  small  a  one  as  to  be  countable 
on  the  fingers  of  your  hand.  What  was  it  that  moved  and 
held  us,  the  rest  of  the  three  hundred  reckless,  childish 
boys,  who  feared  the  Doctor  with  all  our  hearts,  and  very 
little  besides  in  heaven  or  earth;  who  thought  more  of  our 
sets  in  the  School  than  of  the  Church  of  Christ,  and  put 
the  traditions  of  Rugby,  and  the  public  opinion  of  boys  in 
our  daily  life  above  the  laws  of  God?  We  couldn't  enter 
into  half  that  we  heard;  we  hadn't  the  knowledge  of  our 
own  hearts  or  the  knowledge  of  one  another;  and  little 
enough  of  the  faith,  hope,  and  love  needed  to  that  end. 
But  we  listened,  as  all  boys  in  their  better  moods  will  lis- 
ten (aye,  and  men,  too,  for  the  matter  of  that),  to  a  man 
who  we  felt  to  be,  with  all  his  heart  and  soul  and  strength, 
striving  against  whatever  was  mean  and  unmanly  and  un- 
righteous in  our  little  world.  It  was  not  the  cold,  clear 
voice  of  one  giving  advice  and  warning  from  serene  heights 
to  those  who  were  struggling  and  sinning  below,  but  the 
warm,  living  voice  of  one  who  was  fighting  for  us  and  by 
our  sides,  and  calling  on  us  to  help  him  and  ourselves  and 
one  another.  And  so,  wearily  and  little  by  little,  but  surely 
and  steadily  on  the  whole,  was  brought  home  to  the  young 
boy,  for  the  first  time,  the  meaning  of  his  life:  that  it  was 
no  fool's  or  sluggard's  paradise  into  which  he  had  wan- 


188       THE    YOUNG    MAN    AND    TEACHING 

dered  by  chance,  but  a  battle-field  ordained  from  of  old, 
where  there  are  no  spectators,  but  the  youngest  must  take 
his  side,  and  the  stakes  are  life  and  death." 

Ibid.,  pp.  123-124. 

BENJAMIN  ABBOTT 
Principal  of  Phillips-Exeter  Academy,  1788-1838 

GIDEON  LANE  SOULE, 
Principal  of  Phillips-Exeter  Academy,  1838-1873 

Benjamin  Abbott,  and  his  successor,  Gideon  L.  Soule, 
were  principals  of  Phillips-Exeter  Academy  for  a  period 
of  eighty-four  years,  and  these  two  eminent  teachers 
gave  to  the  school  its  distinguished  character.  Mr. 
Abbott  took  charge  of  the  school  five  years  after  its 
foundation.  It  was  then  small  in  numbers  and  back- 
ward in  scholarship,  there  being  only  two  pupils  far 
enough  advanced  to  begin  the  study  of  Latin. 

Benjamin  Abbott  was  born  September  17,  1762,  in 
Andover,  Mass.,  was  prepared  for  college  at  Phillips 
Academy  in  that  town,  and  was  graduated  from  Har- 
vard in  1788  with  high  credit  for  scholarship.  In  Au- 
gust of  the  same  year  he  became  principal  of  Phillips- 
Exeter  Academy  and  continued  in  that  office  for  half  a 
century.     Dr.  Abbott  died  in  Exeter,  October  25,  1849. 

Gideon  Lane  Soule  was  born  July  25,  1796,  in  Free- 
port,  Maine.  In  1813  he  entered  Phillips-Exeter 
Academy.  After  studying  there  three  years  he  was 
admitted  to  the  Junior  Class  in  Bowdoin  College,  from 
which  he  was  graduated  in  1818.     Four  years  later  he 


GREAT    TEACHERS  189 

became  an  instructor  at  the  Academy,  and  was  subse- 
quently appointed  Professor  of  Ancient  Languages. 
He  was  associated  with  Dr.  Abbott  for  sixteen  years, 
and  by  reason  of  the  Doctor's  impaired  health  prac- 
tically exercised  the  powers  of  principal  during  the  lat- 
ter part  of  this  period.  On  Mr.  Abbott's  retirement  in 
1838,  Mr.  Soule  was  elected  principal,  which  position  he 
held  till  1873.     Dr.  Soule  died  May  28,  1879. 

Joseph  G.  Hoyt,  a  teacher  at  Exeter  for  eighteen 
years,  wrote  of  Dr.  Abbott : 

"  The  lofty  bearing  of  a  nobleman  sat  easy  on  him,  sim- 
ply because  he  was  a  nobleman.  .  .  .  He  knew  how  to  be 
dignified  without  being  ungenial.  .  .  .  His  pupils  feared 
him,  but  not  half  so  much  as  they  loved  him.  They  never 
doubted  his  honor  or  his  truth.  They  knew  that  he  was 
their  friend,  great-hearted  and  strong.  .  .  .  He  had  the 
faculty  of  making  his  classes  believe  that  the  particular 
subject  on  which  they  were  engaged  was  the  most  important 
and  attractive  branch  of  study  in  the  world.  They  caught 
fire  from  him,  and  teacher  and  pupils  alike  glowed  with  the 
same  enthusiasm.  .  .  .  His  pupils  came  from  every  State 
in  the  Union  and  from  foreign  countries.  There  was 
among  them  every  variety  of  character  and  disposition, 
.  .  .  but  to  all  of  them  alike  the  ominous  shake  of  that 
long  forefinger  was  as  decisive  as  the  nod  of  Jove.  There 
was  no  appeal  from  him, —  no  escape  from  the  penalty  of 
violated  law.  .  .  .  Though  he  had  a  voice  like  the  voice 
of  many  waters,  yet  he  seldom  spoke  so  loud  as  to  be  heard 
across  the  recitation-room.  The  scarcely  audible  tap  of  his 
penknife  on  his  desk  hushed  his  room  to  silence  in  a  mo- 
ment. However  indignant  he  might  be  at  any  act  of  wick- 
edness or  folly,  his  speech  was  always  gentlemanly.  .  .  . 
But  the  day  when  the  culprit,  especially  if  he  had  been 


190       THE    YOUNG    MAN    AND    TEACHING 

guilty  of  a  lie,  was  sent  up  into  the  library,  and,  after  lis- 
tening for  a  time  in  anxious  suspense  for  the  slow  step  and 
creaking  shoes  on  the  stairs,  was  visited  at  length  by  the 
Doctor  with  his  rattan,  was  a  day  in  his  history  to  date 
from  and  be  remembered. "  x 

Hon.  George  Bancroft  said  of  Dr.  Abbott,  at  the 
Centennial  Celebration  of  the  Academy  in  1883 : 

"  As  a  ruler  of  young  men  he  was  not  to  be  surpassed. 
In  all  the  long  period  of  his  service  he  was  never  known  to 
use  a  word  or  a  tone  that  needed  to  be  recalled  or  softened. 
He  never  reproved  one  scholar  in  the  presence  of  another. 
In  the  time  that  I  was  under  his  care  I  cannot  recall  from 
any  pupil  a  saying  about  him  that  was  not  full  of  respect. 
To-day,  though  it  is  seventy  years  since  I  passed  from  his 
care  my  heart  warms  with  affection  as  I  recall  his  name." 

Charles  H.  Bell,  in  his  Historical  Sketch  of  the  Acad- 
emy, thus  characterizes  Dr.  Abbott  and  Dr.  Soule : 

"  Nature  had  gifted  Dr.  Abbott  with  qualities  which  sin- 
gularly fitted  him  to  be  a  tutor  and  governor  of  youth. 
Though  inflexibly  just,  he  was  only  too  happy  to  temper 
justice  with  mercy,  whenever  it  would  not  be  subversive  of 
good  discipline.  He  was  never  over  ready  to  take  notice 
of  a  fault  that  might  be  passed  by  without  harmful  con- 
sequences. It  was  a  favorite  remark  of  his  that  '  it  was  a 
great  accomplishment  to  know  how  to  wink !  '  Probably 
many  a  boy  attributed  to  his  teacher's  want  of  observation 
what  was  really  the  result  of  merciful  voluntary  blindness. 
Though  he  shrank  from  causing  pain  to  the  lowest  creature, 
yet  in  those  instances  where  punishment  was  really  merited, 
he  inflicted  it  without  flinching.     In  the  happily  rare  cases 

i  North  American  Review,  July,  1858,  pp.  135-138. 


GREAT    TEACHERS  191 

in  which  he  had  to  deal  with  a  vicious  or  depraved  lad,  he 
administered  a  lesson,  both  to  mind  and  body,  that  served  as 
a  wholesome  reminder  of  duty.  He  was  not  the  man  to 
spoil  the  child,  in  such  cases,  by  sparing  the  rod.  In  gen- 
eral, however,  he  governed  with  the  least  possible  display 
of  authority.  In  the  schoolroom,  a  look,  a  tap  on  the  desk, 
or  a  shake  of  the  forefinger  was  enough  to  recall  the  wan- 
dering attention  of  the  most  wayward,  and  fix  it  upon  the 
business  of  the  hour.  .  .  .  An  authentic  anecdote  gives  an 
idea  both  of  his  philological  attainments  and  of  his  impres- 
sive style  of  imparting  information.  One  of  his  best 
pupils,  John  P.  Robinson,  presented  him  his  exercise  in 
writing  Latin,  one  day,  for  correction.  Dr.  Abbott  re- 
turned it,  with  a  single  word  marked  as  erroneous.  Rob- 
inson consulted  grammar  and  lexicon,  and  racked  his  brains 
to  find  out  the  mistake  he  had  committed,  but  all  in  vain; 
and  was  at  last  obliged  to  take  back  the  exercise  to  the  Doc- 
tor, with  the  confession  that  he  could  not  discover  in  what 
the  fault  lay.  '  Robinson/  replied  the  Doctor,  '  words  are 
like  men ;  none  but  gentlemen  are  found  in  gentlemen's  com- 
pany/ 

"  His  manners  were  such  as  would  become  a  nobleman. 
Courteous  as  he  was  dignified,  he  doffed  his  hat  in  response 
to  the  greeting  of  the  lowliest  person  he  met.  As  he 
walked  down  the  aisle  of  the  schoolroom,  bowing  graciously 
to  the  right  and  the  left,  his  appearance  so  impressed  every 
pupil,  that  the  memory  of  it  will  never  fade  away.  It  made 
generations  more  manly. 

"  Dr.  Soule  had  the  advantage  of  a  fine  person;  he  was 
tall,  perfectly  erect,  and  his  air  was  dignified  and  command- 
ing. His  features  were  bold  and  handsome,  his  voice  well 
modulated,  his  smile  winning.  His  temper  was  equable, 
and  his  self-control  was  rarely  disturbed.  Like  Dr.  Abbott, 
he  possessed  peculiar  qualifications  for  the  position  of  chief 
of  a  great  school.     Many  of  his  predecessor's  methods  he 


192        THE    YOUNG    MAN    AND    TEACHING 

carried  along  into  his  own  practice,  though  his  cooler  tem- 
perament caused,  perhaps,  a  more  perceptible  distance  be- 
tween him  and  his  pupils.  But  he  understood  well  how  to 
appeal  to  their  better  and  nobler  instincts,  and  had  confi- 
dence in  their  general  rectitude  of  intention.  He  never 
lost  consciousness  of  the  fact  that  boys  were  men  in  minia- 
ture; and  looking  forward  through  their  present  to  their 
future,  always  made  a  point  of  treating  them  in  manly 
fashion.  He  had  a  remarkable  store  of  anecdotes,  from 
which  he  used  to  draw  illustrations  to  enforce  his  teach- 
ings.    Here  he  never  missed  his  aim.  .  .  . 

"  Under  his  administration  the  students  made  a  great  for- 
ward stride  in  self-government.  They  were  given  to  under- 
stand that  they  were  not  to  be  held  amenable  to  any  written 
code,  but  were  to  conform  their  conduct  to  the  common  law 
of  right  and  propriety,  recognized  by  every  member  of  an 
enlightened  community.  And  it  was  while  he  held  the 
reins  of  government,  that  the  radical  innovation  of  allow- 
ing all  the  students  the  privilege  of  preparing  lessons  in 
their  own  rooms,  unwatched  by  tutors'  eyes,  was  intro- 
duced. .  .  . 

"  As  an  instructor,  especially  in  his  own  chosen  depart- 
ment, the  ancient  classics,  Dr.  Soule's  qualifications  and 
success  were  of  the  highest.  In  the  Latin  language  and 
literature,  to  which  he  gave  special  attention,  he  was  preem- 
inent. His  thorough  knowledge,  his  critical  exactness,  his 
cultivated  taste,  enabled  him  to  make  the  study  of  the 
authors  of  antiquity  a  pleasure,  instead  of  a  task,  to  his 
pupils.  .  .  .  No  better  work,  no  more  thorough  training 
presented  itself  for  examination  from  any  quarter,  than  that 
which  was  accomplished  under  his  immediate  inspection. 

"  The  two  men  had  certain  important  qualities  in  com- 
mon; scholarship,  the  gift  of  command,  and  especially  that 
fine  influence  which  springs  from  innate  courtesy  and  sense 
of  justice.     Both  were  gentlemen,  not  merely  in  their  man- 


GREAT    TEACHERS  193 

ners,  but  in  their  hearts.  They  set  the  example  by  words 
and  acts,  of  Christian  kindness  and  honorable  sentiments, 
united  with  perfect  urbanity.  They  inspired  their  pupils 
not  only  with  the  love  of  learning,  but  with  an  apprecia- 
tion of  the  graces  of  character  and  of  the  amenities  of  re- 
fined life."  2 

FRANCIS  GARDNER 
Headmaster  of  the  Boston  Latin  School,  1851-1875 

Francis  Gardner,  son  of  Honorable  Francis  Gardner, 
a  member  of  Congress,  was  born  March  15,  1812,  in 
Walpole,  N.  H.,  and  was  graduated  from  Harvard 
College  in  1831.  In  the  autumn  following  his  gradua- 
tion he  was  appointed  an  usher  in  the  Boston  Latin 
School.  While  engaged  in  teaching  he  began  the  study 
of  law,  intending  to  enter  that  profession;  but  on  the 
death  of  his  father  in  1835,  he  decided  to  continue 
teaching  in  order  to  be  better  able  to  care  for  his  mother 
and  sisters.  He  was  connected  with  the  Boston  Latin 
School  as  usher,  sub-master,  and  master,  with  the  excep- 
tion of  one  year  spent  in  private  teaching,  from  1831 
till  his  death  on  January  10,  1875. 

Memorial  services  were  held  in  Huntington  Hall, 
March  15,  1876,  the  anniversary  of  Dr.  Gardner's 
birth.  William  R.  Dimmock  delivered  the  Memorial 
Address,  from  which  some  extracts  are  here  given : 

"Life  seemed  to  him  rightly  spent  only  as  it  was  spent 
for  use.     The  ordinary  enj  oyments  of  men,  the  social  pleas- 

iBell,  Historical  Sketch  of  Phillips-Exeter  Academy,  Exeter, 
1883,  pp.  52-57. 


194       THE    YOUNG    MAN    AND    TEACHING 

ures,  absorption  in  the  delights  of  literature,  all  these  he 
put  away  forever  from  him.  He  was  never  seen  at  places 
of  public  amusement,  never,  during  the  larger  part  of  his 
life,  at  the  table  even  of  a  friend;  all  invitations  were  de- 
clined; not  even  the  annual  dinner  at  Commencement  found 
him  present.  But  if  a  boy  had  a  question  to  ask,  if  a 
former  pupil  or  even  a  stranger  sought  instruction,  all  that 
he  knew,  and  all  his  skill,  were  given,  without  thought  of 
time,  and  with  absolute  refusal  to  take  reward.  .  .  ." 

P.  21. 

"  Just  six  feet  in  height,  his  weight  one  hundred  and 
ninety  pounds,  all  bone  and  muscle,  he  was  very  active  in  all 
his  movements  till  his  powers  began  to  fail.  How  often 
have  I  thought,  as  I  have  seen  him  running  up  that  long, 
winding  staircase  at  the  Latin  School,  generally  two  steps  at 
a  time,  of  Dr.  Arnold's  saying,  that  when  he  could  no  longer 
run  up  the  library  stairs,  he  should  know  that  it  was  time 
for  him  to  go.  ...  That  iron  frame  and  those  immense 
powers  gave  him  great  capabilities  for  work.  .  .  .  No  or- 
dinary toil  or  care  could  weary  him.  He  must  have  been 
fifty  years  of  age  when  he  told  me  that  so  far  as  fatigue 
was  concerned,  he  never  knew  the  day  when  he  could  not, 
at  its  close,  do  the  whole  day's  work  right  over  again.  .  .  ." 

Pp.  28-29. 

"  He  had  a  remarkable  facility  for  illustrating  subjects 
by  familiar  objects  and  incidents.  He  was  a  marvel  of  pa- 
tience in  giving  explanations.  When  he  felt  that  the  class 
or  the  individual  boy  was  really  seeking  to  understand  a 
subject,  he  would  repeat  and  vary  his  efforts  over  and  over 
again,  until  the  subject  was  made  clear.  These  illustra- 
tions of  his  were  often  homely  and  quaint;  his  anecdotes 
were  pointed  and  odd;  and  they  gave  so  much  of  originality 
to  his  instruction  that  boys  were  first  interested  and 
aroused  by  his  manner  and  methods,  and  then  received  with 
zest  the  knowledge  that  he  was  trying  to  convey.     He  had 


GREAT    TEACHERS  195 

especial  skill  with  the  lower  end  of  the  class,  with  those 
who  had,  perhaps,  been  thought  idlers  or  dunces  through 
years  of  their  school  course.  .  .  .  The  progress  made  by 
the  poorest  scholars  in  his  room  was  constantly  a  sur- 
prise. .  .  ."  Pp.  31-32. 

"  In  the  government  of  his  school  he  required  strict  obe- 
dience, unquestioned  submission  to  authority,  and  respect  in 
both  words  and  manner.  But  he  was  not  particular  about 
points  of  order  regarded  as  essential  by  many.  His  author- 
ity was  so  absolute,  that  he  could  allow  a  great  deal  of 
freedom  in  the  schoolroom.  His  own  physical  powers 
were  so  vigorous,  that  he  appeared  to  sympathize  with  the 
restlessness  of  boys.  He  endeavored  to  secure  their  inter- 
est in  their  studies,  believing  that  then  the  ordinary  forms 
of  school  discipline  could  be  dispensed  with.  There  was 
always  in  his  room  an  impression  of  vigorous  life.  The 
painful  stillness  of  the  House  of  Correction  and  of  many 
schools  —  a  stillness  as  of  death,  you  did  not  find,  but  indi- 
cations of  intelligent  study  and  happy  work."  P.  35. 

Horace  E.  Scudder  wrote  thus  of  Dr.  Gardner  in 
Harper's  Magazine,  Vol.  LV,  pp.  712-714: 

"  A  stranger  entering  the  great  hall  at  the  top  of  the 
Latin  School  building,  where  the  first  class  always  had  their 
desks,  would  get  the  impression  from  the  tall,  muscular,  and 
bony  figure  that  glowered  upon  him  with  penetrating  eyes 
through  a  pair  of  gold-bowed  spectacles,  that  the  master 
was  a  most  stern,  forbidding  man ;  and  his  impression  would 
probably  be  deepened  if  he  were  to  catch  the  master  hear- 
ing a  class  recite,  his  head  partly  bent  and  turned  to  one 
side,  and  the  questions  coming  forth  in  a  gruff  voice,  curt, 
and,  very  likely,  snappish.  Certainly  Mr.  Gardner  was 
not  a  lovely  man  at  first  sight.  .  .  . 

"  There  are  two  words  which  sum  in  brief  Mr.  Gardner's 


196       THE    YOUNG    MAN    AND    TEACHING 

character  and  influence  —  duty,  honor.  It  was  his  stern, 
unflinching  obedience  to  duty  which  bade  him  turn  aside 
from  pleasant  ways  in  his  life  into  solitary  paths  of  renun- 
ciation, and  partly  thus  to  become  incrusted  with  manners 
that  were  ungentle;  it  was  his  loyalty  to  duty  that  made 
him  spare  himself  in  no  regard  if  he  could  increase  his  own 
efficiency  and  perfect  the  school;  and  it  was  a  high  sense  of 
honor  which  he  inculcated  in  the  boys  —  honor  which  was 
at  the  bottom  of  his  noble  life,  and  sometimes  burst  forth 
into  fiery  indignation  or  deep  scorn  at  what  was  base,  mean, 
or  unworthy  in  the  boys  before  him.  It  was  a  strange 
character  which  gradually  disclosed  itself  to  boys,  and 
never  was  wholly  understood  by  them;  only  as  one  brings 
together  the  testimony  of  his  contemporaries  and  of  those 
who  added  mature  friendship  to  boyish  fear  and  admira- 
tion, can  the  outlines  of  his  nature  be  discerned/' 

Another  of  his  pupils  wrote  concerning  him : 

"  This  great  master,  whatever  else  he  lacked,  had  char- 
acter, not  of  the  fine-lined,  sentimental  kind,  cut  and  pol- 
ished as  a  well-proportioned  statue,  but  in  the  bulk,  a  mas- 
sive bulwark  protesting  against  all  cant,  superciliousness 
and  untruth.  All  who  came  under  his  instruction  during 
his  more  than  forty  years'  connection  with  the  school,  will 
testify  to  this,  when  they  remember  his  devotion  to  truth 
in  language  and  manner,  which,  if  it  seemed  crude  and 
austere  in  its  simplicity,  never  deceived  any  man  as  to  its 
intent  and  was  an  ever-biding  lesson  to  all  under  him  of  a 
man  terribly  in  earnest,  who  believed  in  duty." 

SAMUEL  HARVEY  TAYLOR 
Principal  of  Phillips  Academy,  Andover,  1837-1871 

Samuel  Harvey  Taylor  was  born  October  3,  1807,  in 
Derry,  New  Hampshire.     His  first  American  ancestor 


GREAT    TEACHERS  197 

was  Matthew  Taylor,  one  of  the  sixteen  Scotch-Irish 
Presbyterians  who  settled  the  town  of  Londonderry  in 
that  state  in  1719.  He  was  graduated  from  Dart- 
mouth in  1832,  and  from  Andover  Theological  Seminary 
in  1837.  During  a  part  of  his  seminary  course  he  was 
Tutor  in  Dartmouth  College.  On  the  completion  of  his 
theological  studies  he  was  elected  Principal  of  Phillips 
Academy  at  Andover,  which  position  he  held  till  his 
death. 

He  died  suddenly,  of  a  disease  of  the  heart,  on  Sunday 
morning,  January  29, 1871,  in  the  vestibule  of  the  Acad- 
emy building,  while  on  his  way  to  meet  his  large  student 
Bible  class.  The  day  was  stormy,  and  he  had  already 
shown  symptoms  of  approaching  illness,  but  when  Mrs. 
Taylor  urged  him  to  omit  his  class  for  that  day,  he 
replied :     "  My  duty  lies  with  my  pupils." 

W.  A.  Mowry,  when  giving  a  list  of  great  teachers, 
said : 

"  In  Great  Britain,  as  a  schoolmaster,  Thomas  Arnold 
takes  the  lead.  In  America,  with  all  deference  to  many 
others,  I  venture  to  place  at  the  head  of  this  list  the  name 
of  Samuel  H.  Taylor  of  Andover."  * 

A  Memorial  of  Samuel  Harvey  Taylor  was  published 
by  his  last  class,  which  contained  an  Address  by  Pro- 
fessor Edwards  A.  Park  and  a  Funeral  Discourse  by 
Professor  J.  W.  Churchill.  From  these  addresses  some 
extracts  are  here  given : 

i  Mowry,  Recollections  of  a  New  England  Educator,  New  York, 
1908,  p.  73. 


198        THE    YOUNG    MAN    AND    TEACHING 

"  When  the  trustees  appointed  Mr.  Taylor  as  principal, 
they  intended  and  expected  that  he  would  be  faithful  to 
the  traditions  of  the  office.  He  was  constitutionally  fitted 
for  a  disciplinarian.  He  had  an  instinct  of  government. 
.  .  .  He  had  a  stern  conscience,  a  keen  sense  of  duty,  a 
deep  regard  for  obligation.  It  was  his  firm  belief  that  men 
in  the  learned  professions  would  accomplish  more  than  they 
now  do,  if  they  were  more  regular  in  their  habits  of  study, 
if  they  had  their  fixed  hours  for  intellectual  toil:  he  there- 
fore deemed  it  his  duty  to  insist  on  strict  regularity  in  his 
school.  .  .  .  He  believed  that  one  of  the  dangers  to  which 
this  democratic  land  lies  exposed  is  a  disrespect  for  law: 
he  therefore  believed  that  he  was  performing  an  act  of 
kindness  to  his  pupils  when  he  was  accustoming  them  to 
obey.  .  .  .  He  believed  that  indolence  is  not  only  a  beset- 
ting sin  of  men,  but  the  parent  of  a  numerous  progeny  of 
other  sins:  he  regarded  himself,  therefore,  as  performing 
an  act  of  kindness  for  his  scholars  whenever  he  broke  up 
their  habits  of  idleness.  .  .  .  He  united  accuracy  in  the 
details  of  classical  literature  with  an  enthusiasm  in  its  gen- 
eral spirit.  Accuracy  is  essential  to  the  success  of  a 
teacher,  but  does  not  insure  it.  .  .  .  In  his  view,  no  error 
was  trivial.  With  scrupulous  care  he  exposed  the  slightest 
mistake  of  a  pupil.  He  was  not,  however,  so  engrossed 
in  looking  at  the  trees,  that  he  failed  to  see  the  grove.  .  .  . 
The  scene  in  his  recitation  room  reminded  one  of  a  torrent 
rushing  onward  to  the  sea;  one  wave  not  waiting  for  an- 
other, but  every  wave  hastening  forward  as  if  instinct  with 
life.  Every  mind  was  on  the  alert.  Those  who  were  nat- 
urally quick  learned  to  be  accurate  before  him;  those  who 
were  naturally  slow  spurred  themselves  onward  before  him. 
He  not  only  had  a  knowledge  of  his  theme,  and  an  interest 
in  it,  but  a  knowledge  of  his  pupils,  and  an  interest  in 
them.  He  well  understood  the  nature  of  young  men:  he 
divined  their  thoughts;  his  insight  of  their  character  ap- 
peared at  times  mysterious;  he  knew  how  to  incite  and  em- 


GREAT    TEACHERS  199 

bolden  them.  He  derived  a  fresh  esteem  for  them  from 
the  very  fact  that  they  could  be  incited  to  study,  and  em- 
boldened to  press  through  obstacles.  .  .  .  He  was  a  very 
model  of  patience  in  helping  dull  scholars  if  they  were  in- 
dustrious; a  very  model  of  perseverance  in  explaining  the 
text,  and  repeating  his  explanations,  until  he  made  it  clear 
to  obtuse  minds,  if  they  meant  well.  He  had  a  reverence 
for  good  intentions.  He  loved  the  sterling  virtues  of  his 
pupils.  He  prized  their  moral  excellence  more  than  their 
mental  acumen.  Hundreds  of  these  pupils  confess  that  he 
started  them  in  their  career  of  usefulness,  breathed  courage 
into  them  if  they  were  timorous ;  and,  when  he  refused  to  do 
their  work  for  them,  he  gave  them  a  richer  benefit  in  stim- 
ulating them  to  do  their  own  work  for  themselves.  He  val- 
ued his  pupils,  not  so  much  for  what  they  knew,  as  for 
what  they  could  and  would  learn.  He  did  not  love  to 
crowd  their  memory  with  thoughts,  so  much  as  to  enable 
them  to  think.  He  was  careful  not  to  overload  their  minds, 
and  equally  careful  to  develop  them.  His  aim  was  not  to 
give  them  knowledge,  but  to  qualify  them  for  getting  it." 
From  Professor  Park's  Address,  pp.  19-31. 

"  We  all  felt  that  he  wanted  to  develop  in  us  a  self-re- 
specting manhood,  for  one  thing;  and,  for  another  thing,  he 
aimed  at  a  healthy  and  harmonious  development  of  all  our 
powers.  It  was  the  boy  in  the  totality  of  his  nature  that 
he  aimed  to  educate.  Accordingly,  his  method  was  to  seek 
to  awaken  the  intellectual  activity  of  every  individual  boy. 
He  told  us  as  little  as  possible,  but  made  us  discover  as 
much  as  possible.  To  be  educated  in  this  way,  as  he 
often  used  to  tell  us,  was  to  be  self-educated.  He  made  us 
feel  most  sensibly  the  difference  between  mere  instruction 
and  education.  It  was  the  difference  between  the  means 
and  the  end  to  be  secured  by  them.  He  seemed  to  teach  as 
if  it  was  not  his  business  simply  to  impart  knowledge,  but 


200       THE    YOUNG    MAN    AND    TEACHING 

to  teach  the  way  of  getting  knowledge.  .  .  .  What  we  had 
to  do  must  be  done  accurately.  It  must  be  done  with  all 
the  speed  possible  and  consistent:  this  required  the  con- 
centration of  our  attention.  We  must  be  ready  with  our 
reason  for  the  faith  that  was  in  us.  This  cultivated  logic. 
Facts  must  not  only  be  collected,  but  weighed,  compared, 
and  classified;  and  this  taught  us  method.  With  a  start  in 
these  four  things, —  accuracy,  attention,  logic,  and  method, 
—  he  equipped  us  for  college.  .  .  .  With  the  dullest  of  us 
he  was  patient  and  helpful,  if  he  could  be  assured  that  we 
were  doing  our  best;  but  for  the  geniuses  of  the  class,  who 
'  got  along '  by  the  light  of  Nature,  without  study,  he  had 
no  mercy." 

From  Professor  Churchill's  Sermon,  pp.  86-89. 

Dr.  Claude  M.  Fuess,  in  An  Old  New  England  School, 
pp.  237-300,  gives  a  very  complete  account  of  Dr. 
Taylor's  administration.  While  he  would  rank  the 
Doctor  among  the  great  Principals,  he  has  no  sympathy 
with  his  indifference  to  progress  and  his  despotic  meth- 
ods.    He  says : 

"  The  truth  is  that  Dr.  Taylor  belonged  to  an  age  which 
had  already  passed.  The  classroom  practices  which  he 
employed  so  successfully  could  not  be  used  now;  his  scheme 
of  punishment  would  not  be  tolerated  to-day.  .  .  .  He  was 
fortunate  in  the  time  of  his  death.  Feebleness,  decrepti- 
tude,  or  senility  seemed  with  him  to  be  impossible,  and  it 
was  as  if,  rather  than  bend  to  the  storm,  he  rendered  up 
his  life  in  a  protest  which  he  knew  at  heart  to  be  unavail- 
ing. 

"  Times  have  changed,  then,  since  those  stormy  inter- 
views in  *  Number  9,'  and  the  world  has  grown  out  of  sym- 
pathy with  many  of  Dr.  Taylor's  aims,  as  well  as  decidedly 
critical  of  his  system.     But  it  will  never  do  to  forget  that 


GREAT    TEACHERS  201 

in  both  his  faults  and  his  virtues  he  was  representative 
of  that  Puritan  New  England  where  Phillips  Academy  was 
founded.  His  sternness,  his  relentless  dislike  of  frivolity 
and  hatred  of  evil,  his  scrupulous  thoroughness  and  ac- 
curacy, his  steadfast  adherence  to  the  letter  of  the  moral 
code,  his  confidence  in  the  efficacy  of  conversion,  his  abso- 
lute trust  in  his  own  infallibility :  —  all  these  are  qualities 
which  belonged  to  Bradstreet,  Winslow,  Jonathan  Ed- 
wards, even  to  Samuel  Phillips,  Jr.,  himself." 

Pp.  266-67. 

CECIL  F.  P.  BANCROFT 

Principal  of  Phillips  Academy,  Andover,  1873-1901 

Cecil  F.  P.  Bancroft  was  born  in  New  Ipswich,  N.  H., 
November  25,  1839;  was  graduated  at  Dartmouth 
College  in  1860,  and  from  Andover  Theological  Semi- 
nary in  1867.  He  was  Principal  of  the  New  England 
School  for  White  Youth  on  Lookout  Mountain  from 
1867  to  1872,  and  was  Principal  of  Phillips  Academy, 
Andover,  for  twenty-eight  years. 

Dr.  Bancroft  was  prominent  in  the  movement  to  bring 
about  a  better  understanding  between  the  preparatory 
schools  and  the  colleges,  and  in  changing  the  require- 
ments for  admission  so  as  to  give  a  more  complete 
preparation  for  college.  He  was  President  of  the  Head 
Masters'  Association,  and  also  of  the  New  England  As- 
sociation of  Colleges  and  Preparatory  Schools.  "  He 
lived  to  see  college  and  preparatory  school  work  to- 
gether with  greater  oneness  of  endeavor." 

During  the  first  half  of  his  principalship  he  was  both 
teacher  and  administrator;  during  the  latter  half,  ad- 
ministrator only. 


THE    YOUNG    MAN    AND    TEACHING 

"  In  his  teaching  of  Latin,  he  brought  before  his  pupils 
the  bearing  that  classical  study  had  upon  an  intelligent 
reading  of  current  literature  and  upon  the  discharge  of  a 
rational  citizenship.  He  insisted  upon  forms  and  technical 
details,  but  not  with  the  insistence  of  many  teachers.  He 
looked  beyond  school  years  to  the  larger  life  with  its  perils 
and  its  duties. 

"  As  an  administrator  his  task  was  two- fold,  guiding  and 
harmonizing  the  group  of  teachers  about  him  and  develop- 
ing and  molding  the  purposes  and  character  of  his  pupils, 
and  it  would  be  difficult  to  say  which  problem  presents  the 
greater  difficulties.  Among  his  colleagues  he  was  always 
urbane,  gentle,  deferent  to  the  wishes  of  others,  yet,  in  rare 
instances,  holding  tenaciously  to  his  own  view  that  ran 
counter  to  the  expressed  vote  of  his  teachers,  giving  his  rea- 
sons with  clearness  and  vigor. 

"  A  most  marked  trait  of  his  character  in  dealing  with 
his  corps  of  teachers  was  his  power  of  sustained  waiting. 
The  impatient  man  must  bide  his  time,  not  that  the  Doctor 
was  unwilling  to  carry  into  execution  the  plan  proposed,  but 
that  oftentimes  a  maturer  judgment  would  suggest  to  the 
man  in  haste  a  more  practical  method  or  would  convince 
him  of  its  entire  unwisdom.  The  teacher  that  was  need- 
lessly slow  in  coming  to  a  decision  or  to  action  was  moved 
forward  to  prompt  finality  by  a  word  that  was  both  courte- 
ous and  compelling.  Was  there  something  to  be  done  that 
did  not  sharply  present  itself  as  any  one  man's  specific 
duty?  He  would  himself  take  up  the  work,  both  that  it 
might  be  done  and  also  as  a  lesson  of  self-denial  to  those 
around  him. 

"  The  boys  under  his  care  and  their  parents  always  found 
him  heeding  their  restlessness  and  their  questioning  and 
they  always  found  his  head  and  heart  acting  for  their  future 
good  and  usually  for  their  present  happiness.  .  .  .  They 
loved  him  for  his  delicacy  of  approach  to  their  inner  prob- 
lems, they  were  grateful  to  him  for  solving  or  for  helping 


GREAT    TEACHERS  203 

them  to  solve  those  perplexities,  they  revered  him  for  his 
kindly  remembrance  of  them  in  face,  in  name  and  in  kin. 
And  if  disaster  came  to  any  boy  and  the  sudden  impulse  or 
the  long  planned  effort  swept  him  away  from  fidelity  and 
integrity,  the  boy  knew  that  the  discipline  that  fell  upon 
him  would  be  explained  to  the  friends  at  home  in  a  way 
most  generous  and  helpful,  for  it  was  an  invariable  rule 
with  the  Doctor  to  suggest  to  the  parents  some  plan  for 
the  immediate  future  of  the  erring  boy,  both  to  ease  the 
parents'  grief  and  to  effect  the  boy's  redemption. 

"  The  discipline  that  he  administered  was  not  without  rea- 
son or  temporary,  but  was  well  considered  through  giving 
courteous  regard  to  the  view-point  of  the  boy,  and  the  let- 
ters that  came  in  after  years  revealed  the  unusual  wisdom 
of  his  action. 

"  All  those  that  taught  with  him  and  a  large  proportion  of 
his  pupils  are  grateful  that  they  were  privileged  to  hear  the 
morning  petitions  offered  in  the  school  chapel.  Those 
prayers  were  gracious  messages  of  peace  and  strength,  and 
enabled  many  to  establish  their  ways  against  evil  and  to  live 
a  life  that  was  more  true  and  more  serviceable.  The  diver- 
sity of  approach  in  prayer  and  the  range  of  appeal  was 
marvelous.  The  after  chapel  words  of  exhortation,  rebuke, 
encouragement  and  praise  abide  in  the  whole  company  of 
those  trained  under  him  and  are  lodged  ...  in  the  im- 
perishable years." 

Professor  George  T.   Eaton,  in  the 
Andover  Townsman,  Oct.   11,  1901. 

Dr.  Claude  M.  Fuess  writes  as  follows  of  Dr.  Ban- 
croft's ability  and  services : 

"  There  has  rarely  been  a  case  in  educational  history 
where  a  man  has  been  so  marvelously  adapted  to  his  posi- 
tion as  Dr.  Bancroft  was  to  meet  the  problems  confronting 
him.     If  '  Intensity  and  Conservatism '  were  Dr.  Taylor's 


204<       THE    YOUNG    MAN    AND    TEACHING 

watchwords,  '  Breadth  and  Progressiveness '  were  Dr. 
Bancroft's.  The  extent  of  his  actual  achievements  may  be 
briefly  summarized:  he  found  his  school  with  two  hundred 
and  thirty-seven  students,  and  left  it  with  a  record  of  an 
average  attendance  of  considerably  over  four  hundred  for 
a  continuous  period  of  ten  years;  he  increased  the  size 
of  the  faculty  from  eight  men  to  twenty-two,  and  gathered 
around  him  a  body  of  loyal  and  efficient  teachers ;  he  added 
largely  to  the  endowment  and  was,  through  his  personal 
efforts,  responsible  for  securing  several  new  buildings  and 
bettering  the  equipment;  he  broadened  the  curriculum  with- 
out lowering  the  grade  of  instruction;  and  when  he  died, 
Phillips  Academy,  mainly  through  his  influence,  was  a 
more  virile  and  substantial  institution  than  it  had  ever 
been  before.  All  this  he  accomplished  quietly,  without 
drawing  attention  to  his  part  in  the  transformation.  .  .  . 
It  must  be  added,  also,  that  he  was  always,  even  when 
severely  tried,  a  courteous  gentleman;  that  he  governed 
firmly,  but  with  justice  and  with  comprehension  of  boy 
motives  and  temptations;  and  that  under  him  young  men 
met  with  fair  play  without  losing  the  benefits  which  are 
bound  to  result  from  strict  discipline  wisely  administered. 
.  .  .  Like  all  the  great  Principals,  he  was  occupied  largely 
with  moral  issues.  The  growing  plant,  the  new  dormi- 
tories, the  increased  prosperity  were  all  desirable  only  in 
so  far  as  they  contributed  to  intellectual  and  religious 
ends."  * 

JOHN  MEIGS 
Headmaster  of  the  Hill  School,  1876-1911 

John  Meigs  was  born  in  Pottstown,  Pa.,  August  31, 
1852,  in  one  of  the  buildings  of  a  private  school  estab- 

i  Fuess,  An  Old  New  England  School,  Boston,  1917,  pp.  335-336. 


GREAT    TEACHERS  205 

lished  by  his  father,  Rev.  Matthew  Meigs,  in  1851.  He 
was  graduated  from  Lafayette  College  in  1871,  and  one 
year  later  was  appointed  Assistant  Professor  in  the 
same  institution,  where  he  taught  till  1876,  obtaining 
during  this  period  his  Doctor's  degree.  On  account  of 
the  failing  health  of  his  father  and  the  consequent  fall- 
ing away  of  the  school  in  numbers,  Dr.  Meigs  gave  up 
his  professorship  at  Lafayette,  and  in  1876,  at  the  age 
of  twenty-four,  assumed  the  charge  of  the  school,  which 
was  almost  the  only  support  of  his  father's  family. 
The  school  was  in  debt,  the  plant  was  inadequate,  the 
patronage  small,  and  the  prospect  disheartening.  He 
was  headmaster  of  the  school  until  his  death  in  1911, 
a  period  of  thirty-five  years,  and  under  his  guidance  the 
school  grew  from  an  enrollment  of  ten  to  a  school  of 
nearly  four  hundred. 

The  following  quotations  are  from  an  article,  "  John 
Meigs,"  by  Howard  Bement,  in  American  Youth  for 
April,  1912: 

"  His  ambitions,  moreover,  all  tended  toward  the  field  of 
academic  activity,  and  in  this  field  he  early  displayed  tal- 
ents for  instruction,  coupled  with  a  driving  personal  force, 
which  made  him  at  once  an  inspiring  teacher  and  a  tireless 
and  always  to  be  feared  drill-master.  No  student  ever 
slumbered  in  his  classes.  The  man  who  went  to  the  recita- 
tion with  lesson  well  prepared  was  lifted  up  and  swept 
along  on  the  resistless  current  of  his  rapid-fire  methods; 
while  the  ill-starred  loafer  looked  forward  to  the  period 
with  dread,  and  realized  during  the  recitation  more  of 
actual  horror  than  he  could  possibly  have  conceived  in  the 
anticipation  of  what  was  to  come.     If  nature  had  endowed 


206       THE    YOUNG    MAN    AND    TEACHING 

him  with  no  ambition  to  learn,  fear  of  John  Meigs  soon 
supplied  the  defect.  .  .  . 

"  He  was  as  tender  as  a  mother ;  he  was  as  stern  as  an 
outraged  father.  With  a  boy's  real  troubles  he  could  be  as 
sympathetic  as  proverbial  motherhood;  against  a  boy's 
characteristic  badness  he  could  strike  with  a  mailed  fist. 
Never  was  a  man  more  impatient  than  he  with  half-hearted 
application,  desultory  effort,  flabby  spiritual  fiber,  or  moral 
cowardice.  His  anger,  when  face  to  face  with  these, 
blazed  red;  and  the  frown  of  his  disapproval  darkened  the 
boy's  whole  landscape  as  the  blackness  of  some  iEtna  in 
eruption.  To  be  summoned  to  '  The  Study  '  always  meant 
something,  and,  as  the  boy  responded,  his  heart-searchings 
were  invariably  deep.  He  never  quite  knew  what  to  ex- 
pect, unless  his  dereliction  were  clear.  Then  he  knew.  If 
he  were  really  in  doubt,  however,  he  never  could  foretell 
the  state  of  the  weather  that  awaited  him.  He  might  be 
summoned  to  hear  words  of  encouragement,  of  which  Dr. 
Meigs'  multifarious  sources  of  information  told  him  the 
boy  stood  sorely  in  need.  He  might  have  to  listen  to  words 
of  cheer  and  hope  that  meant  new  life  and  new  purpose. 
On  the  other  hand,  he  might  receive  a  veritable  thunder- 
storm of  rebuke  and  censure,  equally  productive  of  new  res- 
olutions. But  whatever  came  to  him,  the  boy  invariably  left 
'  The  Study  '  with  love  and  fear  still  blended  in  his  heart, 
and  with  the  calming  sense  that  justice  had  been  done.  .  .  . 

"  When  he  first  took  the  struggling  boarding  school  his 
father  turned  over  to  him,  and  when  a  strong  and  influ- 
ential clientele  was  sadly  needed,  there  was  entered  at  the 
school  the  son  of  a  man  high  in  the  nation's  official  life. 
Here  was  a  good  reference  at  a  time  when  one  was  needed 
.  .  .  but  John  Meigs  had  the  courage  to  dismiss  this  boy 
during  his  first  term  at  the  school,  and  for  a  reason  with 
which  a  man  of  less  courage  would  have  temporized.  He 
had  a  well-defined  theory,  even  in  those  early  days,  about 


GREAT    TEACHERS  207 

the  presence  of  boys  in  his  school  who  were  not  amenable  to 
the  school's  purposes  and  ideals.  Boys  not  amenable  were 
dismissed  with  a  suddenness  sometimes  startling.  .  .  .  John 
Meigs  believed  that  no  bad  boy  should  be  kept  when  there 
was  any  possibility  of  that  boy's  doing  the  school  any  harm. 
He  viewed  as  sacred  the  charge  committed  to  him  by  trust- 
ing parents,  and  could  never  be  brought  to  see  that  he  had 
any  right  even  remotely  to  subj  ect  their  sons  to  the  dangers 
of  bad  companionship.  .   .   . 

"  To  keep  the  boys  busy,  whether  at  work  or  at  play,  was 
a  cardinal  principle  with  John  Meigs.  He  permitted  loaf- 
ing neither  in  the  schoolroom  nor  on  the  athletic  field. 
Since  '  Satan  finds  some  mischief  still  for  idle  hands  to 
do/  the  hands,  the  hearts,  and  the  heads  must  never  be  idle. 
So  it  was  that  a  Hill  boy's  day  came  to  be  crowded  full. 
Every  hour  brought  its  appointment  that  must  be  kept. 
Tardiness  was  a  sin;  inattention  and  laxness  of  effort  were 
almost  unpardonable.  Excuses  were  minimized ;  individual 
responsibility  was  maximized. 

"  The  result  of  such  a  moral  and  intellectual  regimen  was 
two-fold,  as  John  Meigs  foresaw.  Not  only  did  it  serve 
the  immediate  purpose  of  the  school,  to  get  its  boys  into 
college  with  few  or  no  conditions,  but  it  molded  the  school's 
great  by-product,  character.  The  return  of  a  comparatively 
clean  sheet  when  reports  of  the  college  entrance  examina- 
tions came  in  did  not  satisfy  the  Head  Master.  He  wanted 
to  know  what,  in  terms  of  life,  he  had  made  of  the  boy,  the 
dull  boy  equally  with  the  bright  one.  He  wanted  to  know 
how  straight  the  boy  stood  up  against  the  moral  back-bone 
he  had  attempted  to  supply  him.  He  wanted  in  the  most 
real  sense  to  be  a  '  maker  of  men.'  Moral  failures  of  his 
boys,  in  college  or  after,  almost  broke  his  heart.  To  min- 
imize these  failures  he  kept  in  touch,  by  correspondence  and 
otherwise,  with  an  innumerable  company  of  Hill  graduates. 
Hundreds,  perhaps  thousands,  are  the  letters  written  in  his 
pwn  hand,  still  preserved  by  old  Hill  fellows.  .  .  . 


208       THE    YOUNG    MAN    AND    TEACHING 

"  Does  it  seem  anomalous  to  some  of  us  that  this  vigorous 
schoolmaster,  this  hard-headed  business  administrator  and 
financier,  should  be  a  man  of  prayer?  If  so,  is  not  the  rea- 
son that  we  are  too  prone  to  speak  of  our  religion  as  virile 
and  manly,  and  think  of  it  as  puerile  and  ineffective  when 
we  come  to  test  it  ?  He  came  to  think  of  his  religion  as  the 
source  of  all  that  was  vigorous  and  real;  and  the  early 
morning  of  each  day  found  him  alone  in  his  study,  Bible 
before  him,  that  he  might  draw  strength  for  the  day  from 
that  boundless  store  which  only  reading  of  the  Scriptures 
and  prayer  can  open." 


PRINTED    IN    THE   UNITED    STATES    OF   AMERICA 


INDEX 


Abbott,  Benjamin,  12,  110,  188- 

191 
Administration,   12,  57 
Admission  requirements,  66,  73 
Allen,  Dea.  James,  34 
Americanization,  13 
Amusement,    excessive    demand 

for,  163 
Apology,  114 
Arnold,  Thomas,  12,  13,  33,  40, 

78,  93,  100,  118,  182-188 
Athletics,  166,   168,  172 
Attendance,  126 
Authority,  respect  for,  165 
Avocations,  149 

Bancroft,  Cecil  F.  P.,  12,  122, 

155,  201-204 
Barnard,  John,  86 
Belief  in  one's  pupils,  100 
Benson,  A.  C,  60 
Bluffing,  84 
Boards    of    Education,    28,    29, 

159 
Brevity  of  speech,  42 

Change  of  position,  153 
Character  training,  172 
Characteristics  of  students,  103 
Cheever,  Ezekiel,  7,  11,  86,  174- 

178 
Cigarette  smoking,   166 
Citizenship,  156 
Classroom  exercises,  conduct  of, 

74 
College  pastor,  124 
College  spirit,  124 


College   teaching,    10,   53,    121- 

139 
Compensations   of   the   teacher, 

31 
Competition,  65,  82 
Consecration  to  pupils,  45 
Consistency,  150 
Corporal  punishment,  108-110 
Correspondence,  154 
Country  schools,  169 
Courage,  38 
Criticism,  attitude  toward,  159 

De  Forest,  John  K.  H.,  91 
Detention,  114 
Dignity,  41,  99 
Disagreeable  pupils,  87 
Disagreeable  tasks,  74 
Discouragement,  24,  26 
Dismissal,  118,  138 
Disregard  for  authority,  164 
Division  officer,  124 
Divisions,  size  of,  69,  70,  133 
Doctor's  degree,  53 
Dogmatism,  151 
Drill,  64,  65,  75 
Drudgery,  22 
Dullness,  25,  81 

Emerson,  R.  W.,  106 
Encouragement,  80 
Enthusiasm,  44 
Examinations,  81 
Exceptional  students,  71 
Experience,  57,  89,  159 
Extension  work,  14 


209 


210 


INDEX 


Faculty  adviser,  124 

Familiarity  with  pupils,  99 

Family  influences,  48,  101 

Firmness,  39 

Foreigners,  15 

Formality,  77 

Freedom    of    college    students, 

121 
Freshman  committee,  124 

Gardner,  Francis,   12,  74,  193- 

196 
General  rules,  107 
Gould,  Benjamin  A.,   106 
Government,  87-105 
Graduate  studies,  54 
Growth,  144 

Habits,  enervating,  167 
Headmastership,  12 
Health,  37,  144 
High  schools,  137 
Home  training,  161 
Honor  System,  95 
How  to  study,  64 
Hughes,  Thomas,  107 

Illustrations,  use  of,  51 
Income,  see  Salary 
Instruction,   62-86 
Interest,  means  of  arousing,  44, 

67 
Investigation,  130,  131 

Jesus  as  teacher,  47 

Laziness,  81 
Lectures,  72,  132-135 
Loomis,  Elias,  78 
Loyalty,  144 

Manners,  49,  96 
Marks,  135 


Marriage,  26 

Master's  degree,  54 

Meigs,  John,  12,  122,  204r-206 

Mental  discipline,  69 

Mistakes,    acknowledgment    of, 

85 
Monotony,  19 
Moody,  Samuel,  12,  178-182 

Natural  penalties,  112 
Normal  schools,  56 
Northrop,  Cyrus,  77 

Objections  to  the  teaching  ca- 
reer, 19-31 
Obligations,  2 
Observation,  54 
Oertel,  Hans,  69 
Olmsted,  Denison,  24,  34,  99 
Opportunities,  1,  3,  5 

Parents,  14 
Patience,  90 
Penalties,  108-120 
Permanency  of  position,  29 
Personal  influence,  138 
Personality,  46 
Phelps,  William  L.,  16 
Physical  excellence,  36 
Power,  exercise  of,  6 
Preparation,  educational,  48-61 
Preparatory  schools,  11 
Principalship,  12,  57 
Private  schools,  159 
Private  tutoring,  130 
Privileges,  loss  of,  114 
Privileges,  special,  81 
Prizes,  82-84 
Promptness,  76 
Public    infliction    of    penalties, 

116 
Public  schools,  13,  55 


INDEX 


£11 


Publication,  130,  131 
Purpose  of  instruction,  62,  64 


Specialization,  7,  50,  51 
Speech,  correct  habits  of,  49 
Spencer,  Herbert,  112 
Qualifications  for  teaching,  32-      Spirit  of  the  age,  50,  164 
47  Study,  private,  5,  60,  144 

Questioning,  art  of,  65,  79  Supervision  of  dormitories,  23, 

24,  97 
Relations  between  faculty  and      Suspension,  117 

students,  93,  98,  114,  129  Sympathy,  40 

Religion,  46  Systematic  life,  6 

Reports,   135 
Reserve,  41,  99 
Responsibility,  training  for,  112      Taylor,  Samuel  H.,  12,  20,  78, 


Richardson,  John,   116 
Room  management,  88 
Rules,  106-108 
Rural  schools,  168-171 


79,  80,  196-201 
Teachers'  colleges,  58 
Teaching  ability,  131 
Testimonials,  155 
Thacher,  Thomas  A.,  125 
Traditions,  127 
Trustees,  159 


Salary,  9,  27,  30,  31,  158 

Sarcasm,  96 

Satisfactions    of    the    teacher's 

life,  4,  17 
Schedules,  22 
Scholarship,  129,  130 
Secondary  schools,  53 
Secret  methods,  94 
Self-government,  95,  115 
Senior  Class,  92,  93 
Short-cuts,  166,  167 
Size  of  divisions,  69,  70,  133 
Social  disadvantages,  21 
Soule,  Gideon  L.,  12,  66t   122,     Young   Men's    Christian    Asso- 

188-193  ciation,  124 


Uniformity  in  discipline,  117 
University  teaching,  10 


Vacation,  60,  140-144 

Writing,  private,  5,  144 
Written  exercises,  22,  145-148 


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